Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Manglehorn Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 7, 2015

Nominated for Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, David Gordon Green's "Manglehorn" (2014) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Curzon Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and video interview with Al Pacino and Holly Hunter. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The locksmith

A.J. Manglehorn (Al Pacino) is a locksmith who lives alone and spends the majority of his time thinking about the past. He frequently writes letters to the woman he once loved but lost. The letters never reach her so when they come back to him he collects them in his garage. On the walls he has placed photos of the woman that remind him of the special moments they shared together.

He started a family with a different woman and they had a son (Chris Messina, Vicky Cristina Barcelona). He lives in the same town, but rarely talks to his father. He has a good excuse -- he is a successful businessman with a busy schedule. Occasionally they would try to have dinner together, but rarely finish their meals because the static in the air quickly kills their appetite.

At the bank where he deposits his checks Manglehorn always talks to Dawn (Holly Hunter, The Piano), a lonely soul like him who secretly wishes that her life was a little more exciting. Their exchanges are meaningless, but make them feel good.

When Manglehorn’s cat, Fanny, swallows a key he leaves her in a local hospital and decides to visit the new salon of a local pimp (Harmony Korine, Spring Breakers) who is convinced that as a baseball coach he was one of the greatest. The awful experience inspires Manglehorn to ask Dawn out on a date, but he quickly disappoints her when he mentions the mysterious woman that he lost years ago.

There are very few contemporary directors that can capture on film the pulse of the American South as well as David Gordon Green does. He sees it differently and when he shoots his films in the South there is a very special atmosphere in them.

His latest film, Manglehorn, is set in a small Texas town which at night looks almost as mysterious as Los Angeles does in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. Here time has different layers and when people move through them they undergo odd transformations that bring out the worst in them. Some notice and manage to get away, but some, like Pacino’s character, are stuck there because they are too weak or too damn tired to leave.

The film is about the suffocating feeling of existing rather than being alive. Pacino’s character is an old man who has made some terrible decisions throughout his life and lost just about everything that would make it worth living. He knows that he is responsible for his misery, but at his age there is little that he could do to overcome the disappointment and heal the pain that comes with it. He tries to suppress both, but with Fanny being his only true friend it is impossible.

The town also isn’t the right place for someone like Pacino’s character. During the day it seems like a quiet and friendly place, but at night it shows its true colors. Pimps, gamblers, prostitutes and alcoholics emerge from the shadows and change its identity. It is the worst place for a loner trying to convince himself that there are better days ahead of him.

Green shot the film with his regular cinematographer, Tim Orr, whose management of color and light is once again very impressive.

Soft ambient music from Explosions In The Sky and David Wingo very effectively enhances some of the film’s most memorable sequences.

Manglehorn Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.38:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, David Gordon Green's Manglehorn arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Curzon Artificial Eye.

The film was shot with the Arri Alexa Plus camera and rather predictably looks absolutely terrific in high-definition. Indeed, detail and clarity are superb and as a result even tiny objects and details are very easy to recognize. There are some minor depth fluctuations during segments where light is either restricted or captured by the camera in an unusual way, but overall the film does have a very balanced modern appearance. Colors are lush and stable. Image stability is excellent. Finally, there are no encoding anomalies to report in our review. To sum it all up, this is a wonderful technical presentation of Manglehorn that makes it very easy to appreciate the artistic vision of director David Gordon Green. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Manglehorn Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

There is a substantial gap in quality between the tracks. The difference is especially obvious where the ambient soundtrack has an important role -- fluidity and dynamic balance are much better on the 5.1 track. This being said, clarity is excellent on both tracks. Also, the dialog is equally crisp, stable, and easy to follow. Only during the narration towards the end where some of the music is again effectively used separation is much more convincing on the 5.1 track. There are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in our review.

Manglehorn Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original British trailer for Manglehorn. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Interview - in this short interview, Al Pacino and Holly Hunter quickly address the characters they play and some of the dilemmas they face. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

Manglehorn Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Manglehorn is yet another reminder that David Gordon Green is one of the most original voices in contemporary American cinema. His latest film is about an aging locksmith, played brilliantly by Al Pacino, in a small Texas town who has made some terrible decisions throughout his life and lost just about everything that would make it worth living. It is a very atmospheric and truly brilliantly scored film that will appear on my Top 10 list at the end of the year. Manglehorn is now available on Blu-ray from Curzon Artificial Eye in the United Kingdom, and via IFC Films/MPI Home Video in the United States (see here). VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.