Gambit Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Gambit Blu-ray Movie Review

What does an eccentric art collector, an art historian, and a Texas rodeo gal all have in common?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 26, 2014

With the steady stream of Superhero-based movies pouring into theaters over the past decade-and-a-half or so and the massive proliferation of all things Marvel and DC into popular culture beyond the established comic book fan base, casual audiences might be forgiven for believing that Gambit is a spin-off film featuring the playing card-throwing character of the same name from the X-Men series. Sorry, Marvel fans. This Gambit is actually a Comedy-Caper film written by Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men, Fargo) and directed by Michael Hoffman (The Last Station). It's a remake/re-imagining of an Oscar-nominated film of the same name released in 1966 starring Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine. This Gambit isn't really a winner -- as far as stuff goes that's penned by the Coen boys, it ranks fairly low on the totem pole -- but it has its moments and, considering its brisk runtime and fair pace, makes for a passable little jaunt through all-too-familiar movie territory.

Everything's bigger in Texas -- even the art forgeries.

A London-based art curator named Harry Deane (Colin Firth, The King's Speech) and an art forger named Major (Tom Courtenay, Doctor Zhivago) are out to do wrong by Harry's overbearing, foul, spiteful, and mean art collecting boss, Lionel Shahbandar (Alan Rickman, Galaxy Quest). They forge a famous missing Monet and enlist the help of a Texas rodeo queen and minimum wage meat packing employee named PJ Puznowski (Cameron Diaz, Bad Teacher) who is also said to be the granddaughter of a World War II combatant who, Harry and Major say, found the famous painting and passed it down to PJ. Of course, it's not true. They pay her to pose with the painting and bring the photograph to Lionel's attention. He's interested but plays it coy, leading to a rather peculiar misadventure that will bring Lionel and PJ closer together and leave Harry with a black eye and a wet spot on his trousers and, later, without any money in his bank account, without his pants, and, frequently, without a proper place to sit.

Gambit certainly doesn't find much favor with its flavorless Pink Panther-inspired opening title music selection. In fact, the picture maneuvers through a fairly large minefield of genre cliché, going pretty much everywhere other movies like it have gone before while exploring some needlessly comic-seedy territory just for, well, who knows why the filmmakers decided a naked Alan Rickman was something audiences wanted to pay good money to see. From Colin Firth perilously shifting across a hotel ledge (and losing his pants along the way) to Cameron Diaz naively yet smartly swooping into Alan Rickman's business dealings all Pretty Woman style, the film features an entire parade of recycled gags and plot devices that combine to further the story and, supposedly, generate laughter (and there's even a fart joke for good measure). The movie feels rather stale, but the Coen Brothers manage to squeeze out just enough story interest and characterization to make it seem a little less tedious and tiresome than it really is. Here's a movie that literally tells its story three times -- once in a quick voiceover, again compactly and as a product of the imagination, and again as it really unfolds -- but maintains a whiff of freshness as it does so, even as it relies on countlessly lame, recycled, and overdone gags to make up for its lack of structural novelty.

Even within its own, somewhat unique jokes the film falls flat. There's a recurring gag in which Colin Firth cannot find a comfortable place to sit in Alan Rickman's office. It works as a throwaway, but the rest of the movie feels so unimaginatively put together that after the second or third time it becomes a point of focal anticipation, not something that happens spontaneously. Ditto another recurring gag in which Firth's neighbor punches him in the face. The movie is really about Firth's follies first (say that five times fast) and the rest of its story second. Firth, who seems more at home playing roles of greater dramatic import (the aforementioned The King's Speech, A Single Man), acquits himself nicely here, going with the flow and doing a fair job of exploring his angle for revenge within the context of his somewhat reserved and gentlemanly, sort of faux-aristocratic exterior. Diaz and Rickman satisfy role requirements, both exiting a few comfort zones and trying new things but seeming to have fun with the film's admittedly limited opportunities to do so.

Gambit Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Gambit arrives on Blu-ray as another gorgeous Sony release. The 1080p transfer delivers a well-defined, very clear, robustly colored, and nicely detailed image. Though colors are frequently presented in shades of gray and blue, there are plenty of opportunities for the palette to sparkle. Some loud attire -- notably PJ's orange Texas shirt -- and more toned down hues, such as dark wooden panels and denim, are all beautifully presented and naturally balanced. Details are crisp and sharp throughout. Image clarity rates very highly, and the transfer reveals consistently strong texturing across the board, including faces, clothes, and fine objects appearing both in the foreground and the background. Black levels are fairly strong though appearing slightly pale in a few shots. Flesh tones favor a slight red/orange shading at times but never to a distracting level. Other technical flaws are practically non-existent. Overall, a typically eye-catching presentation from Sony.

Gambit Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Gambit features a technically proficient yet fairly straightforward soundtrack. It's a classic sort of lossless presentation in which everything flows from its place and nary a flaw is to be found, yet it fails to offer much sonic excitement while effortlessly delivering the film's needs. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 presentation does send music into the listening area with the expectedly wide presence and faithful clarity. Surrounds are used gently but frequently in music delivery and in ambient support effects, such as falling rain and rolling thunder. There are precious few action-style elements within; this is primarily a dialogue-driven experience. The track produces the spoken word with commendable clarity and front-center presence. All told, this is a very good presentation of a fairly sonically limited listen.

Gambit Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Gambit contains no film-related bonuses. The disc only includes an assortment of Sony Pictures trailers, including That Awkward Moment, Pompeii, The Monuments Men, and The Pretty One. A UV digital copy code is also included in the case.

Gambit Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gambit hardly blazes a new trail for its tired genre, but it's a decent little time killer, heavily flawed and borderline obnoxiously repetitive at times, but it has its moments of light charm thanks largely to a few lead actors who just go with the flow and squeeze as many smiles as they can out of the material. The film is probably best enjoyed as part of an art-themed Sony double feature with The Monuments Men. Sony's featureless Blu-ray release of Gambit delivers striking video and solid audio. Worth a rental.