Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Curve Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 22, 2020

Though the title Curve obviously references the winding road over which a Bronco, and its two passengers, takes a tumble into a ravine, one cannot help but think of "curveball" and the idea that, just maybe, the movie will throw some kind of surprise at the audience before it's all said and done. But even as the film finds a mildly compelling story in its first two acts, the final minutes fall into rote, uninspired, and unsurprising meatball-right-down-the-middle storytelling that doesn't betray the first hour but that certainly does nothing to make a memorable movie. Director Iain Softley's (The Skeleton Key, Inkheart) film lacks ambition and vision. It's intermittently interesting but also painfully predictable, perhaps not in all of the specific details but certainly in the broader narrative devices and larger plot points that build one of the least imaginative arcs in some time.

Trapped.

Bride-to-be Mallory (Julianne Hough) is on a solo road trip to Denver in order to participate in her wedding rehearsal. She’s happy and the wedding will go on, she tells her sister Ella (Penelope Mitchell), who doesn’t really believe her. En route, in the middle of nowhere, her Bronco breaks down. She can’t get it running, but out of nowhere appears her savior: a dashing Mr. Fix-It named Christian (Teddy Sears) who, using his father’s old mechanical trick, gets the vehicle up-and-running once again. Mallory says thanks and drives off but barely gets a ways down the road before she decides she owes it to Christian to give him a lift. Big mistake. An amiable few minutes turns into a brewing nightmare when he begins talking dirty to her. Fearing for her life, she decides to drive the Bronco off a winding road and down into a steep ravine. Christian is thrown from the vehicle but Mallory winds up trapped in the overturned and now mangled mess, her leg wedged somewhere around the twisted debris with no hope of removal. As she lays for days on end, battling the elements, staving off hunger and thirst, and suffering from Christian’s occasional torments from outside the vehicle, she must decide if she will take drastic measures to survive and, just maybe, exact revenge on the man who has all but ruined her life.

Curve essentially blends the storylines from two vastly superior films: the fictional Breakdown, the story of a man searching for his wife who was kidnapped while the couple was taking a car trip in the middle of nowhere; and 127 Hours, the true-life tale of a man who ultimately cut his arm off after becoming stuck in a rock formation in the middle of nowhere. Curve is neither as tense nor tight as the former and certainly nowhere near so compelling as the latter. The film doesn't lack for want in both areas -- it's well made as it is and proves watchable enough in isolation -- but the film can't escape a sense of predictable repetition and, indeed, the lack of finessed storytelling, particularly in the third act, which only solidifies it as a middle-of-the-road Thriller with only just enough build and execution of the essentials to make for a passable watch.

The film does get a decently devilish performance from Teddy Sears as the antagonist, a man whose secrets are not spilled until the final moments, but they really don't amount to much, particularly in light of all the generic legwork happening around the revelation. The character, and the performance, are best enjoyed as Mallory experiences them: from a position of fear, uncertainty, and vulnerability. Sears builds a character with obvious mental defects but also a man capable of removing any and all sympathy and humanity from his mental equation. It's appropriately chilling and it's enough, along with the basic ebbs and flows of Mallory's fight for survival, to build a fairly good first two acts. Julianne Hough is a good bit less memorable as the protagonist, shuffling through the usual character beats and never making her Mallory anything more than a generic cutout with a basic will to survive at her disposal. She sells some of the touchier moments well enough -- drinking her own urine, eating a dead rat -- but don't expect her to push any envelope, or be given material with any depth to allow her do so.

Curve Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Curve generally looks fine. The production is not of a super high end quality to begin with but most of the image looks just fine. There is some very nice detail, such as beads of sweat on Mallory's skin, visible pores in close-up, as well as blood and other wounds on her face, as well as Christian's. Clarity is fine within the overturned vehicle, allowing viewers to get a good, clear lay of the land, so to speak, and come to understand the confined but critical geography of Mallory's new world. Colors are fine, whether green vegetation, a burning flame, or red blood. Flesh tones look good and black levels are appropriately deep. Some of the lower light scenes (see around the 25 minute mark during Mallory's first night trapped in the car) show some severe noise, banding, and a general low resolution but these are limited to a few sporadic shots. This one is nothing at all special in the looks department, but Universal's transfer gets the job done without too many glaring weaknesses.

Curve Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Curve's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is more than capable in its high intensity outbursts and is quiet moments of reflection and survival alike. The track offers several moments of prominent output, particularly the marriage of music and mayhem as the car crashes and hurtles Mallory towards her painful entrapment. The effect is very good, presenting with plenty of volume but also a good deal of clarity as all of the elements merge into a single moment of extreme audio rush. There are a few more exclamation points throughout the film as other moments of high intensity are met with similar power and prominence throughout the stage. One of the other key effects in the film comes at the end of the second act when torrential flooding rushes through the stage with plenty of power but falls a bit short of absolute clarity, though to the film's credit there's not a whole lot of "detail" to such sounds in real life; it just comes across as a little more concerned with volume and depth rather than clarity. Still, a net positive in total. A few minor atmospheric effects filter through as Mallory is trapped in the vehicle, particularly at night. Dialogue is clear and precise, well prioritized, and firmly grounded in the front-center channel.

Curve Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Curve contains one supplement: Another Curve: A Twisted Alternate Storyline (1080p, 11:53). This is a short film that reverses the order of things, in a manner of speaking. This supplement can only be accessed in-film via the remote's pop-up button. No "top menu" is included; pressing that button simply restarts the film. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Curve Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Curve works pretty well in its first hour, as Mallory fights for her life and Christian occasionally pops by to torment her from the outside, eating a sandwich and drinking juice in one scene and leaving her with a hacksaw to cut her leg off later on. There's just enough interest and quality filmmaking to make the first hour more or less enjoyable, but the bland final act kills most all of the goodwill the movie builds prior. Universal's Blu-ray is decent enough, delivering good video and audio presentations. Extras are limited to a single supplement. Worth a rental or a buy on a very steep sale.