Beast of Burden Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Beast of Burden Blu-ray Movie Review

American Made, Almost Broken.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 13, 2018

Beast of Burden is a very condensed, low budget version of American Made, the Tom Cruise movie in which the legendary actor plays a pilot who runs drugs in his airplane. This film centers on an entirely different character and takes place in one night, following a pilot who must not only navigate dark skies but also deal with numerous obstacles, real ones in the sky with him and those taking place away from him, distant and on the ground, as well as the stresses of the building dangers and doubts and the fears that he might very well lose everything he holds dear. The film is cramped, is largely confined to a single location, but effectively closes in on the lead character and engages through his deteriorating mental state and ever-fatiguing body and mind as he does all he can to save his marriage and deal with opposing demands from the ground, all while trapped high in the sky in a tiny cockpit where all he can do is focus on the task of flying and fight away the dangerous realities that are charging him from every conceivable angle.

The Pilot.

Sean (Daniel Radcliffe) is living a secret life. He flies drugs across the border. His wife Jen (Grace Gummer) has recently lost the couple's baby and is struggling with the realities and dangers of ovarian cancer. The couple's relationship is strained, but both are working hard to sort things out. Sean is ready to be done with drug running. He's harassed by both the DEA and the cartels for which he works. His mission is made all the more dangerous on all fronts. As he deals with an ailing wife on the line, who gradually puzzles out that Sean is lying to her about what he's doing, he's followed by a government drone and given new parameters for delivering his load by the increasingly demanding and paranoid cartel. But when Jen becomes involved, Sean must find a way to save her, from miles up in the air and miles away from her, while staying alive and keeping his plane, and his sanity, together long enough to survive the night.

Beast of Burden creates modest tension and delivers fair drama, an accomplishment within its visually repetitive structure, where the vast majority of the movie is comprised of variously angled shots of Sean piloting the plane and talking into his headset with little deviation. His story slowly reveals over the course of his flight. It’s essentially a few flashbacks mixed in with him in the cockpit, calling various people or various people calling him, with the occasional shift to reveal the person with whom he is speaking, usually Jen. The film doesn’t play all of the cards in its hand, at least early on, in an effort to maintain pacing or build some sort of forward momentum beyond the plane rumbling towards its destination and discovery of Sean’s uncertain immediate and long-term future. It saves a few bullets, literally for partway through the film, and dramatically for the final act. It’s slow but steady, confident in the tension that builds, even within very limited confines and not even much to look at along the way.

Daniel Radcliffe handles his character well, particularly, again, considering the limited opportunity for him to do much more than sit and react to whatever he sees outside the plane or hears coming from his communication equipment. As the story progresses, his character grows increasingly stressed and panicked. Radcliffe is tasked with convincing the audience that the building tensions, his bubbling anger and frustrations, growing fears, festering doubts, and ultimately his determination to save his wife come from a very real place within as all he can do is emote and trust both the script and himself to carry the movie. With his, and the movie’s, limited resources and opportunities, Beast of Burden does a fairly good job of getting inside Sean’s head, as images, ideas, hopes, and fears, both in the moment and as he reflects on and looks forward in his life, swirl around the screen, both seen and implied. This is hardly the stuff of gripping dramatic legend, but Radcliffe, Writer Adam Hoelzel, and Director Jesper Ganslandt have created something out of almost nothing and a movie worth watching.

Beast of Burden Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Beast of Burden has its visual struggles, but its 1080p transfer generally holds up to scrutiny. Heavy macorblocking is obvious throughout, though generally only in the odd shot of the plane flying through the nighttime sky; the image practically disintegrates into a murky mess of blockiness and banding but otherwise holds up fairly well, even in cramped, low-light quarters with little opportunity to show its wares. This is a very bland movie, visually. It's relentlessly dark. Fortunately, black levels hold up well enough, appearing dense and deep without crushing out essential details, and probably 95% of the movie is in some way or to some degree reliant on tight, well defined blacks to visually support the story. What objects can be seen look fine. Facial textures, even bathed in shadow, are adequately crisp, whether pores or stubble. Little details -- the illuminated instrument panel in the cockpit which offers the only real light source in the plane and in much of the movie -- are likewise nicely textured and sharp. On the rare occasions where the action shifts -- such as to a DEA office that reveals more lighting and, by extension, opportunity to reveal more detail, or in the film's final moments when the darkness gives way to an evenly lit daytime scene -- the image presents a healthy crispness to human, clothing, and environmental textures alike. Colors and flesh tones are fine as the image allows. This isn't a dynamic image because the movie isn't visually dynamic, but aside from the significant macroblocking and banding in select shots, there's not a lot of room for complaint.

Beast of Burden Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Beast of Burden doesn't soar within the boundaries of its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, but it usually flies high. Surrounds engage sporadically to carry some of the rattle and engine hum, the plane zipping near the ground at the 74-minute mark, several amplified effects here and there (gunshots, a helicopter), and some nighttime insect ambience around the 29 minute mark, but the track is otherwise front heavy and dialogue intensive. Subwoofer engagement, like surround usage, isn't prolific, but it helps add weight and balance to the track as necessary. Music is fine, well spaced along the front, and engaged with enough fidelity to please. Dialogue propels most of the film, and it presents with scene- and stage-commanding clarity, front-center placement, and flawless prioritization.

Beast of Burden Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Beast of Burden contains no supplemental content.

Beast of Burden Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Beast of Burden accomplishes little within its little confines, but the film finds enough dramatic resonance, character and situational intensity, and small bursts of action to please. It's reminiscent of American Made and reminds of small-confine movies like Phone Booth. It's not quite as good as either, but it's a solid enough little movie that doesn't offer much to look at, but Momentum's Blu-ray usually handles the film's darkened video well enough. Audio is fairly good, too. No extras are included, which is a shame, though one can only imagine a commentary being as limited as the movie's elbow room ("here's Daniel flying the plane...and here we see him from another angle...it's very dark in this scene...and here's Daniel in the cockpit again"). Light kidding aside, it's not a bad little movie or Blu-ray. Recommended at a sale price point.