6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.2 |
When Hollis Figg (Don Knotts) is assigned to operate an advanced computer containing vital city information, he inadvertently uncovers facts leading him to suspect corruption within the government. Figg immediately takes his suspicions to the mayor, who dismisses his claims. But shortly thereafter, Figg is given a big new office - complete with a sexy secretary - plus a racy red company car. Immune to bribery, the civic-minded Figg sets out to nab the felonious officials.
Starring: Don Knotts, Joe Flynn, Edward Andrews (I), Elaine Joyce, Yvonne CraigComedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Look up the term "typecast" in the dictionary and there's a good chance it'll have a picture to Don Knotts next to it (or, if we want to get all modern, a link to his IMDB or Wikipedia page). He seems to always appear as the affable goofball, the person who means well, lives life with a big heart, but is always proverbially tripping over his own shoelaces, finding the goofiest way to wade through a situation or interact with the people, places, things, and the larger world around him. That is certainly true in How to Frame a Figg, a film in which the beloved and venerable actor plays a goofball who is the on the lowest rung of the office totem pole where he works. He's "Mr. Average" at best and a bumbling "dummy" (to use the film's verbiage) at worst, a man that the city's brass believes can be manipulated into either deliberately, or by sheer ignorance, overlooking a grafting scheme. It's a fun picture, maybe a bit too long and confined, but a solid little film in the larger Knotts canon that is sure to charm longtime fans and newcomers to the actor's work alike.
Universal frames How to Frame a Figg on Blu-ray with an acceptable, but hardly noteworthy, 1080p transfer. The image appears to be the victim of some digital processing, tinkering with the natural grain structure and leaving behind a more digitized look. Fortunately, that does not mean that details have been wiped away, reduced to wax, or less than sharp. In fact, the picture is appreciably and, in many cases, satisfyingly sharp, but one gets the sense that a more faithfully film-like appearance would have resulted in an even better looking quality of detailing. Even so, the general vibe around the image is more or less positive, with nice definition to everything from attire to books lining a shelf as seen at the 39-minute mark. There's a good bit of visible information to facial definition, too, but again audiences can't help but to dream of a more faithfully filmic picture here. Color reproduction is decent enough. There's not a lot of tonal nuance at work, but the picture does boast a fairly hearty palette, including, of course, various neckties and bowties and other assorted clothes, cars, and period elements seen throughout the film. Natural greenery is fine, warm woods are healthy and relatively deep in color, and the palette exhibits a general satisfaction for overall color accuracy and quality. Black levels are decent enough, ditto whites, and skin tones look good overall. Note that there are also a few scattered pops and speckles apparent on the print as well. The overall score is probably more of a 3.25/5.00.
Universal releases How to Frame a Figg to Blu-ray with a proficient DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack, which is the only audio option on the disc (optional English SDH subtitles are included). The track is pretty basic, offering decent enough body and volume to a few of the rare prominent sound effects heard in the film, such as the blaring ambulance sirens heard in the opening moments, but even then such are both rare and not exactly sonic highlights and powerhouses. That is fine, however, because this is made to be a dialogue heavy comedy. The spoken word presents with a fine front-center imaged quality to it with very little sense of drift to the sides. Vocal clarity is quite good for the duration. Light music also enjoys satisfying detail and proper front-side engagement.
This Blu-ray release of How to Frame a Figg contains no supplemental content. The release does not include a "top menu" screen. A pop-up menu is included which only offers users the option to toggle the optional English SDH subtitles on and off: the very definition of "bare-bones." No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.
How to Frame a Figg is really only worth watching for Don Knotts, but he's one of those rare actors that is worth watching even if the movie around him isn't, which is the case here. Knotts is solid in the part, playing with a familiar cadence, so audiences who enjoy his antics will find this is a decent enough watch, though to be sure the movie squanders a good idea for a movie with bland execution and sluggish pacing. Universal's Blu-ray is fairly disappointing, too, what with no extras on the menu. Video could be much better (yet at the same time, it could be much worse). I guess that from a technical perspective the forgettable yet still baseline effective 2.0 lossless soundtrack stands as the "highlight" of this release. Recommended only on a very steep sale; the disc is probably worth $5 new all things considered, so try and wait for it to drop there, if it ever does; at time of writing this is going for about $20 on Amazon, which is way too much for the value offered.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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