Avanti! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Avanti! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf October 28, 2017

Nearing the end of his illustrious filmmaking career, Billy Wilder attempts one from the heart with 1972’s “Avanti,” which still rings loudly with his particular sense of timing and silliness, but strives to be more than just a series of jokes. Wilder’s had greater success with this type of tone before, but all is not lost with the painfully overlong “Avanti” (which runs 144 minutes), which offers pronounced charm from leads Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills, while the screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond (adapting a Samuel Taylor play) remains interested in twists and turns, working to keep the audience engaged as the pair refuse to trim any tangents and bad ideas.

Lemmon stars as Wendell, an American businessman flying to Italy to collect his deceased father for a funeral in Baltimore. Instead of slipping in and out of the country, Wendell is hit from all sides by bureaucracy, threats, murder, and Pamela (Mills), the daughter of his father’s lover, who died in the same car crash. Complications are common throughout “Avanti,” with nothing going well for Wendell, giving Lemmon plenty to sputter and groan over, offering a terrifically rumpled performance. He’s matched well with Mills, while the pair is supported with gusto by Clive Revill, who speeds around the effort as a hotel manages to lives to serve.

Avanti! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"Avanti" arrives on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation, and it doesn't appear to be a recent scan. It's hardly offensive, but lacks a certain freshness that would support the picture's Italian adventure with vibrancy. Detail is acceptable, fighting a level of softness, but close-ups retain some texture, along with location particulars. Colors are a tad muted but register adequately, emphasizing greenery and period costuming, and set decoration allows for varied hues. Delineation is acceptable. Source is mostly solid, with a few jumpy reel changes and some speckling.

Avanti! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD sound mix is straightforward but appealing, preserving the musical mood as the score comes through with clarity and satisfying instrumentation. Dialogue exchanges are crisp and clean, supporting comedic timing and detailing accent work. Atmospherics aren't intrusive, adding some depth to scenes. Mild hiss is detected.

Avanti! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview (10:55, HD) with Juliet Mills explores her excitement when faced with the reality of working with Billy Wilder, a director she had great admiration for. Employment was contingent on weight gain, with Wilder pushing food on Mills throughout production, which wasn't a challenge while shooting in Italy. Mills shares appreciation for her co-stars, and mentions the absence of Walter Matthau, who was supposed to cameo during the climax, but had a falling out with Wilder during production. The actress also recalls the wonderful atmosphere of the set, and points out renewed appreciation for the movie after all these years.

• Interview (14:36, HD) with Clive Revill tracks the actor's rise in theater, where he achieved great success, but was interested in film world, eventually working with Wilder in "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes." Remaining with Wilder for "Avanti," Revill shares his delight with the screenplay, celebrating its tight construction. Revill is an interesting interviewee, often slipping into roles during the conversation, sharing some vocal technique.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:39, SD) is included.

Avanti! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Avanti" is consistently amusing, but rarely bellylaugh funny. It still carries all the finger-snap timing and satiric edge of a Wilder/Diamond creation, but the sheer size of the story is a miscalculation, feeling the weight of the run time after the 100-minute mark, finding new discoveries unwelcome in a feature that does just well with the full plate of incidents it begins with. "Avanti" has plenty of rich ideas (an opening clothing switcheroo opportunity inside an airplane bathroom between Wendell and a strange man is the movie's biggest laugh), glorious Italian locations, and capable thespians, and it works most of the time, especially when it manages charged encounters and saucy behaviors, including a bit of au naturel sunbathing for Pamela and a clearly agitated Wendell (Lemmon's nudity is genuinely surprising). But length hurts the viewing experience, with the picture showing signs of fatigue long before it's over, taking some of the magic out of Wilder's work.