Last Embrace Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Last Embrace Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 5, 2014

After scraping through most of the 1970s with intelligent B-movies, director Jonathan Demme took a sharp turn toward the cinematic with 1979’s “Last Embrace,” an extended Hitchcock homage starring Roy Scheider and Janet Margolin. Bathed in a warm, excitable score by Miklos Rozsa and shot by the great Tak Fujimoto, “Last Embrace” certainly isn’t sloppy. However, this adaptation of the book “The 13th Man” (written by Murray Teigh Bloom) doesn’t offer the snap Demme is looking for, and while the production has aspirations to be “North by Northwest,” it mostly comes to attention in frustrating fits.

“Last Embrace” certainly offers memorable elements, including a plot that steeped in Judaism, abortive spy games, and a climax that takes the action into Niagara Falls. Scheider also gives a secure and committed performance, articulating his character’s developing confusion with precision, acting as a cool, stiff counterpoint to Margolin’s looser performance. “Last Embrace” provides moments that amuse and bewilder thanks to Demme’s off-beat sense of humor and attempt to muzzle his natural handheld style to play up the Hitchcock celebration. His art-house funk remains, but the picture does a fine job of mimicry on occasion, with excursions in a bell tower and secret research missions seizing suspense.

Last Embrace Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation manages "Last Embrace" to satisfaction, with a few drawbacks arriving during the viewing experience, including the appearance of speckling, never moving into heavier displays of damage. Colors are stable and settled, with pleasing hues on costuming and locations, while skintones are true. Grain is managed adequately, and blacks are secure and communicative.

Last Embrace Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix certainly shows its age with a sharper, thinner presence. Dialogue exchanges aren't lost, but fullness isn't available, with performances competing with atmospherics for dominance, narrowly beating out rushing water and street activity. Scoring also remains tepid, failing to pick up the picture in a way it seems intended to do, with several of the major suspense sequences more functional than remarkable. Hiss is detected.

Last Embrace Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview (10:39, HD) with producer Michael Taylor carries an unusual tone, finding the interviewer trying to dig for a little dirt, hoping to get the subject to expand on Scheider's short temper and the picture's lackluster marketing. Taylor doesn't take the bait, remaining upbeat about his stars and the feature's potential future on Blu-ray. Weirdly, the chat is dated 2004, but it certainly seems as though it was recorded recently.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:55, HD) is included.

Last Embrace Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Last Embrace" works in small doses, with the overall movie missing a sense of urgency key to the raising of stakes and tension. There's also a refusal on Demme's part to commit entirely to the Hitchcock experience, with interest in following such melodrama and technical precision wiped away with cinematographic habits and the casual nature of the characters' quest. While "Last Embrace" ultimately underwhelms, the effort is there to create something that's a little odd and a little traditional, making its working parts more interesting than the finished product.