Convicts Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Convicts Blu-ray Movie Review

Stir crazy.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 25, 2015

It’s hard to know whether or not you’re going gentle into that good night if you’re suffering from some kind of dementia, a troubling if salient undercurrent to the low key but effective Horton Foote drama Convicts. Foote has long trafficked in a certain kind of rural, and at least occasionally elder based, nostalgia, courtesy of such vaunted works as Tender Mercies and The Trip to Bountiful. Foote won his first Academy Award for adapting Harper Lee’s iconic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, and it was evidently Foote himself who recommended one Robert Duvall for the central (if largely unseen) role of Boo Radley in the classic film. Duvall and Foote continued their professional collaboration, at least within a certain six degrees of separation or so, when Duvall appeared in two films based on Foote plays, 1966’s The Chase and 1972’s Tomorrow. Their relationship was more straightforward in the aforementioned Tender Mercies, a film which Foote wrote and which ended up winning Oscars for him for Best Screenplay and Duvall for Best Actor. For whatever reason, 1991’s Convicts didn’t cause quite as much of a stir (no pun intended—convicts, stir, etc.) when it was released, but it offers Duvall another chance to develop an intriguing if at times rather unlikeable character. The film has a burnished quality that is quite evocative, but its general ambience is so dour (despite stabs at humor now and then) that it makes for a rather sobering viewing experience.

Though the story actually takes place during the very earliest years of the 20th century, there’s a definite 19th century vibe to much of Convicts, with a kind of old, even Civil War Era, agrarian South on display. There may in fact be a modern world out there somewhere, but it’s not very much in evidence as somewhat addlepated farmer Soll Gautier (Robert Duvall) walks his expansive land. Gautier has been able to make ends meet—more or less, anyway—by using local convict labor to man his fields. He also utilizes generally avuncular if also no nonsense Ben Johnson (James Earl Jones) to act as something of a foreman and a kind of manager for the farm's general store.

Also working at the store is youngster Horace Robedaux (Lukas Haas), and it’s here that Convicts oddly both connects and stumbles with its material. Horace is a kid struggling to cope with a rather miserable series of events fate has handed him, including the death of his father. Horace’s main goal is to be able to buy a proper headstone for his father’s grave, but the chances of actually getting paid by Soll seem to only grow slimmer as time goes on and Soll’s already precarious mental state deteriorates. The film’s best moments are generally those between Soll and Horace, but at the same time, Foote seems to want the main point of view to be resolutely Horace’s, even when Soll is either alone on screen or otherwise the focal point of any given scene. It gives Convicts a slightly refracted feeling at times which perhaps keeps the film from completely delivering on a purely emotional level.

Evidently Convicts was part of a rather large cycle of plays by Foote, and so some of its anecdotal qualities might be better placed within the larger context of whatever Foote envisioned in what was evidently a fictionalized accounting of Foote’s own family history. Like many anecdotes passed down from generation to generation, Convicts has the allure of a certain mystique and even charm, while also stretching credulity at times.

In the canon of great Duvall performances, somehow his Soll Gautier has been largely overlooked. It’s a generally magnetic performance, one informed by Duvall’s almost instinctive crustiness, but also one which is uniquely human and accessible. The screenplay may tend to lapse into moments of a probably too florid sensibility (Soll isn’t just senile, he seems to be freakin’ nuts quite a bit of the time), Duvall is superbly restrained for the most part, often commanding the screen with little more than a cocked eyebrow.

Director Peter Masterson certainly has one of the more fascinating curricula vitae in contemporary show business. Masterson is evidently Horton Foote’s cousin, and directed Geraldine Page’s Oscar winning turn in Foote’s A Trip to Bountiful. Broadway musical lovers however may recognize Masterson’s name as one of the book writers of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. And just for good measure, Masterson has a number of acting gigs under his belt as well. While Convicts is a bit leisurely in pace, it’s long on mood and Masterson has certainly managed to coax compelling performances from Duvall, Haas and Jones. The film may never ultimately really offer the cinematic gut punch it seems to be aiming for, but it’s a well crafted and generally compelling mood piece that offers a suitably elegiac, melancholic look at an elderly man knock, knock, knocking on heaven’s door.

Convicts Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Convicts is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Masterson and director of photography Toyomichi Kurita (Sukiyaki Western Django) create a somewhat gauzily evocative ambience which comes through organically if not superbly sharply in this high definition presentation. Elements have the standard issue wear and tear problems including some fade which affects an already somewhat bland palette, but at least some of what "ails" Convicts in terms of a kind of flat, less than vivid, appearance seems to be inherent elements due to a somewhat lo-fi filming. As should probably be expected, the outdoor scenes (and there are a lot of them) pop the best, with decent if not excessively saturated colors, and good reproduction of a somewhat heavy grain field. Interior scenes can sometimes get slightly more swamped with grain, and detail is marginally decreased at times. Fine detail is actually quite commendable in the more brightly lit sequences, with patterns like the weave on the various jackets the men (and boy) wear looking nicely delineated and precise. While this isn't a knock your socks off visual feast, it's rather evocative in its own small scale way, and the good news is, as is Olive's custom, there are no signs of problematic digital tweaking, with the result being a nicely organic if less than mindblowing presentation.

Convicts Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Convicts offers a similarly small scale soundtrack offered in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. The track is rife with excellent ambient environmental sounds around the working farm, and dialogue is also very cleanly presented. Peter Melnick's enjoyable score is also presented without any distortion or other problems. Fidelity is excellent, though dynamic range is somewhat restrained, as suits the film's subject matter.

Convicts Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 00:27)

Convicts Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Foote may be drawing a parallel between Soll's imminent demise and a sort of Gone with the Wind-esque farewell to an entire southern way of life, but any "meta" content is actually kind of superfluous, needlessly muddying up the waters of what is essentially a quiet, introspective and intimate character piece. Duvall is once again amazing in a somewhat difficult role, and he's matched very nicely by both Haas and Jones. Convicts has an almost palpable atmosphere at times, but ultimately may be a bit too slight to ever resonate fully, let alone address some of that high-falutin' "meta" content. Technical merits are generally good to excellent on this release, and with caveats noted, Convicts comes Recommended.