7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A book-smart teenager joins his school's wrestling team as a way to reunite his surviving family members, who split apart after the death of his father, a college wrestling legend, 10 years ago.
Starring: Patricia Clarkson, John Cena, Devon Graye, Madeleine Martin (I), Danny GloverSport | 100% |
Drama | 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
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
My wife and I have been joking recently that we’re certain we have the makings of one of those Lifetime “switched at birth” movies. Our eldest son, who’s now in high school, has joined his wrestling team and is good enough that, though still a freshman, he has been taking on some varsity matches in his weight class. We find this completely astounding for the simple reason that neither my wife nor I have what one would call an overabundance of athletic ability. Or even an abundance, for that matter. I first knew something was wrong when my son, still then in middle school, informed me that Physical Education was his favorite subject. Obviously either this was not a child of mine, or at the very least some long recessive gene had finally gone mutant in this new generation. Wrestling has actually turned out to be a surprisingly good thing for my kid at least, but I well understood the worry about injury that the Patricia Clarkson character has for her son in the wrestling drama Legendary. This 2010 film, which barely received a theatrical release, is hackneyed at times, but it actually manages to pack a bit of an emotional wallop along the way, due largely to Clarkson’s pitch perfect portrayal of a woman at the head of a family in trauma after the death of her husband. Legendary in fact at times feels like a Lifetime film itself, with a sort of lo-fi ambience and a dearth of A-list stars, despite the always wonderful Clarkson. Unlike some “come from behind” underdog sports films, though, Legendary doesn’t hang all its filmic chips in the athletic arena, and in fact derives most of its drama from the unfolding family relationships between Clarkson as widow Sharon Chetley, who is mothering a precocious high schooler Cal (Devon Graye) while maintaining an initially unexplained distance from her first born, Cal’s older brother and former wrestling champ Mike (John Cena in his first non-action role).
Legendary has a sort of upper echelon tv-movie look to its AVC encoded 1080p image in 1.85:1. While no one would mistake this for a reference quality Blu-ray, the image here is decently sharp and well defined, with good color and saturation, good to excellent contrast, and very good and stable black levels. The film offers the bleak countryside of Oklahoma, so the location shots are not bursting with a broad palette. Instead we're treated to mostly grays and browns. On the wrestling mat we get bursts of bright colors with the various singlets the wrestlers wear. Luli's costumes are also brilliantly colored and provide a wealth of detail. Flesh tones are excellent throughout the film, and grain looks natural without being overly pronounced in the many darker segments Legendary features.
Legendary's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is similarly workmanlike, although it does offer a wealth of source cues which spill through the surrounds quite invitingly. Immersion is best here in the wrestling segments, when the screams of the crowd zoom through the side and rear channels, providing a suitably authentic recreation of a high school gymnasium. The bulk of the film is quieter dialogue scenes, and in that regard Legendary's track does quite well, with clear and crisp placement and an excellent mix between the actors, sound effects and score.
Legendary offers quite a few supplements tucked into its singlet:
You've probably seen a hundred underdog sports films, but Legendary has a couple of unexpected moves along the way. Clarkson and Graye are wonderful and give full blooded performances here, and the film, though hackneyed at times, manages to develop some emotional momentum that's surprisingly effective. For Clarkson alone, Legendary is Recommended.
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