6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Self-described misanthrope Elle Reid has her protective bubble burst when her 18-year-old granddaughter, Sage, shows up needing help. The two of them go on a day-long journey that causes Elle to come to terms with her past and Sage to confront her future.
Starring: Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer, Laverne CoxDrama | Insignificant |
Family | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Portuguese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Indonesian, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Thai
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Grandma is a movie about reflection. The story centers on an elderly lesbian who reconnects with her life as she travels around town with her pregnant granddaughter in search of cash to fund an abortion. It's sort of like a microscopic Road Trip movie that lacks the typically sprawling cross-country journey, or journey across some otherwise large distance, but that does retain the same sort of personal growth and reconnection with oneself and family along the way.
This isn't your grandma's picture quality. Sony's Blu-ray release of Grandma delivers an oftentimes striking 1080p transfer that never shows any glaring weaknesses. Detailing is strong across the board. Clothing textures are particularly impressive, showcasing fine material and stitch details with ease. Faces are revealing, whether Elle's more aged and wrinkled skin or Sage's cleaner, makeup-heavy look. Support elements are impressive, too, whether wood and heavy paint textures in a coffee shop seen near film's start, natural grasses seen at Sam Elliott's character's home, or the cleaner lines inside the medical facility. Colors are attractively nuanced and natural. The image boasts robust clothing hues, attractive natural greens, and well defined finer makeup or accent shades. Skin tones always appear full and healthy and black levels are deeply impressive, particularly considering a nighttime dialogue scene at film's end. This is another top-tier transfer from the Sony Pictures Classics line.
Grandma features a straightforward DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Dialogue is the primary element, and it enjoys effortless center placement, excellent vocal clarity, and consistent prioritization, though there's really not much else in the track to challenge it. Music is rich and detailed, with a Hip-Hop song enjoying the most robust intensity, depth, and spacing in the movie. Minor ambient effects, such as chirping birds and mild traffic din, help define the movie's key locations with light immersion.
Grandma contains a commentary, a featurette, a Q&A, and a trailer.
Grandma soars thanks to Lilly Tomlin's remarkable performance but suffers from a lack of a more thorough and thoughtful emotional journey on the other side of the coin, in Sage's quest to raise the funds for an abortion. But focusing almost singularly on Elle's side of the story, the movie impresses with a sharp script and tangible emotional pull. It's clearly not a movie for all tastes; more traditionally valued viewers probably won't enjoy it, at least not its superficial story arcs. There is a lot to like in Tomlin's performance and the movie's apolitical core story of reflection and coming to terms with life. Sony's Blu-ray release of Grandma features excellent video, quality audio, and an average allotment of extra content. Recommended.
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