Frank & Penelope Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Frank & Penelope Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 20, 2022

Sean Patrick Flanery's "Frank & Penelope" (2022) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include documentary on the making of the film as well as an original theatrical trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

You see anything you like?

They don’t make them like they used to. When discussing great older films with good friends or strangers on the internet, how often do you encounter this statement or a variation of it? Well, it is true. They do not make films like they used to, but it is not because they do not know how. It is because nowadays they are told what films are needed and how to make them. If they do not deliver, they do not get to work in the industry. By the way, “they” covers all kinds of different people -- writers, directors, actors, and even some producers.

Frank & Penelope is the first film Sean Patrick Flanery has directed on his own and is the perfect proof that there are very talented people out there that know exactly how to make them like they used to. They just must be given the freedom and financial support to be creative. This is how many, many special genre films that are now considered great cult films were made during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Frank & Penelope is exactly like them, and if it had been distributed during the VHS or even the DVD era, right now Quentin Tarantino would have been telling everyone how it left an indelible impression on him. Guaranteed.

Flanery grew up watching special genre films during the 1970s and 1980s, so it is very easy to tell where the inspiration for Frank & Penelope came from and why he did a bang-up job on it. Frank & Penelope oozes the unbridled energy of Two-Lane Blacktop and borrows many of the tricks that you would see in Road Games. There is a portion of it that pays homage to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, possibly even to the whackier sequel as well. But guess what? Flanery gives Frank & Penelope a unique identity and then unleashes it to roam free and go as far as it wants. Oh, by the way, Frank & Penelope is an equal opportunity offender too, which means that it has a first-class wicked sense of humor. In other words, it is every bit as cool as Flanery is as an actor.

The story that is told in Frank & Penelope is a collage of nasty surprises and errors. When Frank (Billy Budinich) accidentally discovers that his wife is a cheater, he ends up in a lousy striptease club whose only dancer, Penelope (Caylee Cowan), tries to drain his credit card. But Frank saves Penelope from her part-time boyfriend and full-time boss (Flanery) and she agrees to join him on his journey to that special cliff seen at the very end of Thelma & Louise. However, somewhere along the way Frank and Penelope fall in love and instead reach a strange motel with the most disgusting menu in the whole of Texas.

Flanery adapted an original story by John Taddeus but in its current form Frank & Penelope looks and feels like his own creation because the energy that flows through it is one hundred percent his. While very good and full of effective twists and turns, this story would not have been at all coherent without Flanery’s energy, which is practically everywhere. The other area where Flanery’s creativity is instantly recognizable is the constantly evolving tone of Frank & Penelope. It is what makes Frank & Penelope very effective as an equal opportunity offender because the sweet, the ugly, and the whacky are intertwined in such unpredictable ways that the entire journey through rural Texas becomes quite a roller-coaster ride.

Budinich reminds of a young Chris Isaak but channels James Dean. Considering that he has had a very short acting career, the quality of his performance is rather impressive. Cowan is sizzling hot and is responsible for the funniest moments in the entire film. Kevin Dillon is perfect as the slightly loopy sheriff who loves vintage cars. Johnathon Schaech, Brian Maillard, Charley Koontz, and Donna D’Errico effortlessly make the loons look legit, too.

A fine electronic soundtrack created by Rhyan D’Errico and Jared Forman adds another layer of heavy atmosphere as well.

Frank & Penelope Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Frank & Penelope arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment.

The entire film looked outstanding on my system. It seems like there is a bit of room for encoding optimizations that could have made a few sections of the indoor footage look slightly better, but it could very well be that what is on the Blu-ray is extremely close to what was captured by the camera. After all, the film was shot with modern equipment and restricted light and reflections can vary quite a bit. The rest looks great. Delineation, clarity, and especially depth are fantastic. I upscaled the film to 4K and virtually all of the outdoor footage looked remarkably lush and sharp. Colors are very rich yet natural. Image stability is outstanding. All in all, I was quite impressed with the way the film looked on my system. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Frank & Penelope Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

I assume that the film has a fully digital soundtrack and the Blu-ray replicates it. Clarity, sharpness, depth, and stability are exceptional. The dialog is always very easy to follow. Dynamic intensity is very good, too. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Frank & Penelope Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - presented here is an original U.S. trailer for Frank & Penelope. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Behind the Scenes - this more than an hour-long documentary features clips from various cast and crew interviews as well as raw footage from the shooting of Frank & Penelope. Also, at the very end of it, there is a very emotional wrap-up Sean Patrick Flanery thanks the entire cast and team that made it possible for him to shoot the film. In English, not subtitled. (76 min).

Frank & Penelope Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Frank & Penelope is an outstanding throwback to the many wild genre films from the 1970s and 1980s that are now considered cult classics. Sean Patrick Flanery should be very proud of his work on it and I hope that he continues to follow his instincts because they are pretty special. As far as I am concerned, Frank & Penelope is the best independent American film to reach my desk this year and I will make sure that it appears on my Top Ten list next month. Mill Creek Entertainment's presentation of the film is very good and its Blu-ray release is very attractively priced. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.