Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

It's Not Just You, Murray! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 16, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of Scorsese Shorts.

There was a rather funny throwaway line in the recently reviewed mockumentary Brutal Massacre: A Comedy, where a hapless horror film director was discussing film shoots fraught with peril and disappointment. This director, the sort of guy who really wants to impress his interviewer even if he's manifestly short on any actually impressive achievements, mentions Apocalypse Now as a prime example of this phenomenon and then adds "just go ask Scorsese" to make his point. Those who aren't confused about Scorsese's filmography may think of his feature film career starting with at least Mean Streets, though diehard Scorsese fans will of course know about Boxcar Bertha and perhaps even Who's That Knocking at My Door? . But even before Who's That Knocking at My Door? came out in 1967, Scorsese had started making a name for himself with both documentaries and some more whimsically minded shorts, and this Criterion release aggregates several of them, giving fans an opportunity to see one of the titans of contemporary cinema beginning to define his style.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, enough with films like GoodFellas, Gangs of New York, Mean Streets, Casino, The Irishman and/or The Departed, if you're looking for a real Scorsese gangster film, look no further than the rather cheekily enjoyable It's Not Just You, Murray! This kind of weirdly whimsical outing won Scorsese several awards while he was still at New York University, and it's both charming and funny as it documents the life of a two bit hood named Murray (Ira Rubin). This is another film filled with first person moments delivered straight to the camera, but Scorsese introduces a whole host of stylistic flourishes, and he's also none too subtle about depicting subtext, as in several allusions to the obviously physical relationship between Murray's best friend and partner in crime, Joe (Sam De Fazio) and Murray's wife (Andrea Martin, but not that one).

It's Not Just You, Murray! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

All of the films included in Scorsese Shorts are presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.33:1. Criterion's insert booklet lumps information about the transfers together as follows:

All five films are presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and right of the imae to maintain the proper screen format. The new digital transfers of Italianamerican and American Boy were created in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from the 16 mm negative A/B rolls. The Big Shave, It's Not Just You, Murray!, and What's a Nice Girl Like Your Doing in a Place Like This? were created in 4K resolution from the original 16 mm reversal A/B rolls.

The original monaural soundtracks for Italianamerican and American Boy were remastered from 35 mm magnetic tracks. The original monaural soundtrack for The Big Shave was remastered from 16 mm magnetic tracks. The original monaural soundtracks for It's Not Just You, Murray! and What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? were remastered from 16 mm optical soundtrack positives. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX.

American Boy; The Big Shave; It's Not Just You, Murray!; and What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? film elements courtesy of the George Eastman Museum, Rochester, New York. Italianamerican film element courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

It's Not Just You, Murray! offers another generally very pleasing looking transfer, though it, like some of its siblings in this set, can show slight variances in clarity and detail levels, especially as it ping pongs between some outdoor location work, which can be a little on the fuzzy side at times, and more controlled interior scenes, which can often offer rather nice fine detail levels a lot of the time, as in some of the finely patterned materials in Murray's suits and ties. Contrast is solid and black levels good throughout the presentation. Grain resolves without any issues.

It's Not Just You, Murray! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

It's Not Just You, Murray! features an LPCM Mono track which is able to easily support the film's dialogue (including quite a bit of voiceover by Murray), as well as what amounts to a mini-musical sequence in the middle of the film. Fidelity is fine throughout, and I noticed no apparent damage. Optional English subtitles are available.

It's Not Just You, Murray! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements tied to this specific film on the disc. For the more generalist supplements that the disc does offer, please refer to the Scorsese Shorts Blu-ray review.

It's Not Just You, Murray! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's Not Just You, Murray! is a lot of fun, especially when seen through the prism of some of Scorsese's later, arguably less comedic, forays into the world of organized (or disorganized, as the case may be) crime. Technical merits are generally solid, and It's Not Just You, Murray! comes Recommended.