Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		2.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

He Was a Quiet Man Blu-ray Movie Review

Shhhhh.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 5, 2010

The right time will come.

He Was a Quiet Man is a quiet little film, an unassuming picture with limited appeal and an even more limited exposure, and it is now being released on Blu-ray with minimal fanfare. Everything about the film's existence has painted the picture of a movie that's been repressed, held back, and not given the opportunity to compete with the big boys of the cinematic arena. Nevertheless and in a little twist of slight irony, the film's rather reserved approach and limited appeal does blend right in with its primary plot and the plight of its lead character, making it an interesting case study of life inside art imitating the exposure of said art in the real world, in a roundabout sort of way. Wide release or not, misunderstood or not, little seen or not, He Was a Quiet Man delivers an intriguing but ultimately sterile picture that's takes the easy way out at the end, the film just another that seems to have everything going for it before tossing out a curveball that many viewers will see coming as it leaves the pitcher's hand, and to follow the baseball analogy, this hanging curve isn't hit out of the park but is instead slapped into the outfield for a bloop single, which in and of itself is enough to make the crowd cheer.

I could see the squirrels, and they were married...

Office drone Bob Maconel (Christian Slater, Lies & Illusions) is a nobody at Advanced Dynamic Devices. He's mistreated by his bosses, ignored by his co-workers, and to top it off, he lives a solitary life at home where he spends time creating matchstick art and communicating with his pet fish. Bob has decided that a killing spree inside the office is the answer to his problems. He's acquired a six-shot revolver, brought with him six rounds of ammunition, and has six targets selected. Before he can start shooting, a fellow employee opens fire and kills several before he himself is killed by Bob and the ammunition meant for a more heinous endeavor. Bob becomes an instant sensation, loved by all, and is given a promotion and a company car by boss Gene Shelby (William H. Macy, Fargo). One of Bob's first assignments as the company's new "Vice President of Creative Thinking" is to visit a fellow employee in the hospital, a young girl named Vanessa (Elisha Cuthbert, House of Wax) who was wounded in the shooting and has been rendered paralyzed, leading to a series of events that will either turn Bob's life around or solidify his desire to exterminate his fellow co-workers with extreme prejudice.

No matter how the story ends, the highlight of He Was a Quiet Man is Christian Slater's performance and the film's uncanny ability to so dangerously yet fascinatingly glance into his twisted mind, to try and understand why it is that he's got murder on his brain and believes six shots for six coworkers to be the solution to whatever it is that ails him. The film's approach is simple but effective, taking viewers on a journey that doesn't answer all the questions but, and perhaps just as effectively and arguably more importantly, examines a mind in the process of coping with its arrival at an unimaginable destination that's visited by only the most psychotic few rather than spending time on how it got there and why it traversed such a perilous road and with but a singular and difficult path leading backwards towards the realm of sanity. The film works much better in this context, allowing audiences to be immediately thrust into the shoes of a deranged individual and witness firsthand the mishmash of his thought process and actions, to see the disconnect between mind, heart, and soul as they seem at constant odds as bloody fantasies and physical actions attempt to come together but seem inhibited by some final shred of decency and awareness that at the final moment may or may not prevent the pending atrocities. Slater plays the part admirably and melts into the role, even though his appearance as a disheveled fringe-type character that's a combination of Milton in Office Space and "D-Fens" from Falling Down seems rather clichéd and unimaginative. Slater convinces the audience of the internal struggle within the mind, which is the key component to the movie's several twists and turns and paramount to an understanding of the picture's somewhat bland but nevertheless effective-in-context conclusion.

On the technical side of the ledger, however, He Was a Quiet Man is something of a disappointment. The picture is definitely a product of its budget; minimalist special effects that are of a made-for-television quality are given a prominent role in the picture and tend to distract from its tone and themes, while the dark subject matter that by its very nature is forced to compete with a blossoming appreciation of life offers a contrast that's not handled as well as one might have hoped considering the picture's topsy-turvy examination of life from two complete opposite ends of the spectrum. The picture flounders a good bit at times in its important but slightly-too-fantastical feel, but again, it makes more sense in hindsight and in context of the overall experience than it does in the heat of the moment and upon an initial viewing. He Was a Quiet Man is a film that some viewers may wish to give a second spin if only to try and understand its many idiosyncrasies with the foreknowledge of where the story goes and how it ends, and despite some technical flubs along the way, the performances and the plot are good enough to make a second watch a pleasurable experience and a worthwhile endeavor.

He Was a Quiet Man Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

He Was a Quiet Man lumbers onto Blu-ray with a serviceable 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. The sharper scenes throughout the film take on a slightly over-processed, artificial look, but the image does exhibit fairly strong detail in select scenes and a color palette that's not the most natural or vibrant but certainly acceptably reproduced. However, the image often ventures into an excessively soft and fuzzy state of existence. Various scenes even go so far to look like they were captured on low-grade video, exhibiting a veritable absence of definition, sharpness, and object texturing, not to mention showcasing some unsightly jagged edges, aliasing, and compression artifacts. Fine detail can be fairly good in the more stable close-up shots; Slater's face reveals various bumps, pores, and strands of facial hair nicely, but for the most part, He Was a Quiet Man's 1080p transfer lacks much definition and takes on a routine, dull, and flat appearance. Certainly plagued with an inconsistent and ever-shifting visual transfer, it's difficult to tell where filmmaker intent and the picture's original elements end and where faults in the transfer begin.

He Was a Quiet Man Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

He Was a Quiet Man fizzles on Blu-ray with a mediocre Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack; no lossless or uncompressed options are included. This is fairly routine, dialogue-intense stuff with little in the way of punch and excitement; the opening scenes of the film do deliver a bit of low end information, and a few sound effects later in the film -- primarily that of a plane lumbering through the soundstage -- offer a fairly significant amount of bass that shakes the walls but lacks the utmost clarity associated with tighter and superior lossless efforts. Additionally, only a few surround effects are implemented; a train seems to pass through the soundstage in one shot and is accompanied by a decent sonic presentation that gives the sensation of the vehicle traversing through the listening area, but the sense of space and flow is limited. The track delivers but a series of minor supportive atmospherics in the office locale; employee chatter, ringing phones, and the like barely register even at reference levels, leaving the listener feeling detached from the environment. Several gunshots ring out with a puny thump that barely registers as a firearm discharge from a purely sonic perspective. Dialogue reproduction is generally sound, but listeners shouldn't expect much more than a straightforward presentation with He Was a Quiet Man.

He Was a Quiet Man Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No special features are available.

He Was a Quiet Man Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nobody remembers the guy who singled off a hanging curve but rather the guy who hit the home run to drive him in, which is why He Was a Quiet Man is a success in and of itself but not necessarily all that memorable in the grand scheme of things. An interesting journey into a warped mind that's negated by a copout finale and made-for-TV special effects, He Was a Quiet Man nevertheless works until the end, and even then, there's enough good here -- intermixed with plenty of bad -- to make this one worth a watch. This Starz/Anchor Bay Blu-ray release delivers a technical presentation that's a mixed bag, both the 1080p picture and sound qualities of varying proficiencies but neither flat-out awful. Unfortunately, the presentation is not supported by any extra content. He was a Quiet Man is an intriguing little picture that cinephiles will want to spend 90-some minutes with and perhaps even see twice, but the quality of the disc and absence of extras makes this one best enjoyed as a rental.