Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Flesh and Bone Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 10, 2022

Steve Kloves' "Flesh and Bone" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new audio commentary by Steve Kloves; new program with production designer Jon Hutman; new program with editor Mia Goldman; archival cast interviews; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Somewhere in Texas

Arlis Sweeney (Dennis Quaid) is a simple Texan. He drives a truck, loads vending machines and dyes chickens, eats, and sleeps. He smokes and occasionally has a beer. If he feels the urge, he may get himself a date too, but he likes being alone and doing the same things he has been doing for years. In rural Southwest Texas, where Arlis lives and makes ends meet, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Here repetitiveness has always meant stability, and you need stability to take control of your life. Arlis is fully in control of his life, has been for a long time, and does not intend to change anything.

But one day Arlis bumps into Kay (Meg Ryan), who has lost all of her money and is about to do a gig in a lousy bar full of drunken cowboys, and she unintentionally rearranges a lot of things in his life. Kay pops out of a giant cake, half naked and shaky, but before she could take off her bra loses her balance and collapses on the floor. The hard hit is not what prematurely ends her special performance, but the whiskey she has been drinking on an empty stomach while waiting inside the giant cake. Arlis picks her up, takes her to a nearby motel, gently undresses her, and puts her in bed. On the following morning, after Kay’s hangover goes away, Arlis offers to give her a ride home because he is going in the same direction to check on a bunch of vending machines.

In Arlis’ truck, Kay does most of the talking, and even though it isn’t much, or in any way revealing of her past, her voice soothing slowly begins to melt his heart. Then, at Kay’s house, Arlis experiences a completely different side of her personality when she discovers that her loser husband has secretly sold their furniture and arranged for movers to come pick it up. Much to Arlis’ surprise, however, instead of proving to be the legit excuse he has been looking for to walk away from Arlis, the family drama makes him like her even more.

But Arlis’ rapidly evolving relationship with Kay is put to the test when a young and beautiful thief (Gwyneth Paltrow) appears with his badly wounded father (James Caan), a notorious troublemaker, and soon after his wounds begin to heal, he tells him that one of them will have to put a bullet in his new girlfriend’s head.

Steve Kloves was born in Austin, Texas, and his second feature film, Flesh and Bone, very much feels like the creation of a native Texan. Indeed, Flesh and Bone goes places that you would rarely, if ever, see bothered by a film camera, which is why you could almost feel the heat, smell, and stillness of the great state coming through its visuals. Kloves wrote the story that is told in it too, and while it is a good one, what makes the viewing experience unique is this very authentic ambience that only a Texan could have preserved with a film camera.

Flesh and Bone opens up with a brutal murder that is the catalyst of its drama, but it takes some time before Kloves’ screenplay turns it on. For a while, it feels like Flesh and Bone is just taking it easy and looking for the right opportunity to switch gears. This isn’t an unusual concept, especially for a neo-noir thriller, but it isn’t a popular one because the part where the film creates the impression that it is just wandering around has to be done really well. If it isn’t, it collapses the entire film because it destroys its ability to appear authentic.

Kloves also gets the simplicity of the drama right. Except for Paltrow, who just does not look quite like a gal that could make a living as a traveling thief in rural Southwest Texas, the cast is very convincing. Caan’s effective transformation is somewhat surprising given that he had not played a contemporary troublemaker cowboy before. Quaid is very much at home and it is immediately obvious that he was the right actor for the part. Ryan also looks convincing as the fed-up wife who can start a new chapter in her life if the right guy comes along.

Flesh and Bone Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Flesh and Bone arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment.

The release is sourced from an older master that was supplied by Paramount Pictures. I have a very old R1 DVD release of Flesh and Bone in my library and my guess is that it was probably sourced from the same master because its presentation of the film looks very similar. So, the good news is that there are no traces of digital tinkering, which is why the visuals tend to have a decent organic appearance. However, they also have a dated appearance, with the panoramic shots usually revealing the most obvious limitations. What this means is that delineation and depth can fluctuate, while clarity would be pleasing at best. Highlights can be better balanced, though here they tend to look alright. Darker areas look decent as well, but they easily reveal the age of the master. Color balance is stable. However, virtually all primaries and supporting nuances can look lusher and healthier. In fact, if in the future Flesh and Bone is remastered in 4K and properly graded, some of the most drastic improvements will be in the reproduction of these primaries and nuances. Image stability is good, but I did not notice a few slightly shaky transitions. In a couple of darker areas the encoding could have been better. All in all, this Blu-ray release offers a decent presentation of Flesh and Bone that makes it easy to enjoy it even on a pretty big screen, but if the folks at Paramount Pictures decide to redo it in the future, and deliver a proper 4K master, the next Blu-ray release of this film will look significantly better. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Flesh and Bone Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the entire film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. I liked it a lot and did not perform any comparisons with the LPCM 2.0 track. I thought that clarity, sharpness, depth, and balance were outstanding. I did not encounter any traces of age-related imperfections either, so when the current master was prepared someone obviously ensured that everything is handled as best as possible. Can a new 5.1 track offer any meaningful improvements? At the moment, my answer is no.

Flesh and Bone Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage U.S. theatrical trailer for Rust and Bone. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• "All About Place" - in this exclusive new program, production designer Jon Hutman discusses his background and explains how he entered the film business thanks to his friendship with Jodie Foster, and discusses his involvement with Flesh and Bone. Mr. Hutman also has some very interesting comments about the locations that were chosen and used in Flesh and Bone. In English, not subtitled. (15 min).

• "A Tradition of Tragedies" - in this exclusive new program, editor Mia Goldman discusses her background, her decision to relocate from New York to Los Angeles where she lucked out and entered the film industry with French Postcards and then had her big break with Body Heat, and work with Steve Kloves on Flesh and Bone. In English, not subtitled. (13 min).

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary, director/screenwriter Steve Kloves addresses his connection to Texas (apparently, he left the state when he was two, but had relatives that stayed there and preserved a relationship with the area and its people), the inspiration for Flesh and Bone and executive producer Sydney Pollack's support for the film, the importance of shooting at authentic locations, some of the unique improvisations Jimmy Caan sneaked in, the tone and ambience of the film, Gwyneth Paltrow's performance and what it meant for her career, etc.

• Archival Interviews: - three archival interviews with additional comments about the production, characters, and style of Flesh and Bone. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. James Caan (4 min).
  2. Gwyneth Paltrow (6 min).
  3. Dennis Quad (6 min).

• Booklet - 60-page illustrated booklet featuring essays by critics Walter Chaw and Pater Galvin.

Flesh and Bone Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A striking sense of place gives Flesh and Bone a very unique identity that becomes bigger than its story. But this story is very good too, so there is a lot to like in Flesh and Bone if you allow it to take you on a trip through rural Southwest Texas. Does Flesh and Bone deserve to be labeled neo-noir? Maybe. But as far as I am concerned, it is another very fine piece of '90s Americana. Via Vision Entertainment's Blu-ray release is sourced from an old but decent master that was supplied by Paramount, and features a predictably solid selection of exclusive new and archival bonus features. It is included in After Dark: Neo Noir Cinema Collection One, a six-disc box set. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.