Miranda's Victim Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Miranda's Victim Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson August 2, 2024

If you've ever taken a history or criminology course in high school or college, you've likely heard the phrases "Miranda Rights" and "Miranda's Warning." These refer to a suspect or arrestee's rights to remain silent and have an attorney present during questioning by law enforcement. These rights were not provided to Hispanic laborer Ernest Miranda when he was arrested and interrogated by Phoenix police officers in 1963. But Chief Justice Earl Warren and the Supreme Court gave all suspects protection from self-incrimination three years later in the landmark ruling, Miranda v. Arizona.

The much lesser known aspect to this case is the long ordeal experienced by one of Miranda's victims. Some years ago, film producer George Kolber located Patricia "Trish" Weir, who was 18 at the time she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by Miranda after a bus left her off one night after work. In Miranda's Victim (2023), Trish is portrayed by Abigail Breslin in a difficult role that demonstrates courage and bravery. Trish works at the Paramount Theater as an usher. When she exits a city bus and heads home, Trish is blindsided by a man who kidnaps and rapes her. When she later goes to a hospital, an unsympathetic doctor examines Trish's wounds and sends her home. Ann Weir (Emily VanCamp), Trish's sister, is highly sympathetic and supportive. When Detective Cooley (Enrique Murciano) and Sergeant Nealis (Brent Sexton) interview Trish, they believe her story. Trish's mom Zeola (Mireille Enos) believes her daughter, too, but wants Trish to keep quiet and not go public with her story because doing so could cause future repercussions. Zeola fears that divulging the story could put Trish's admittance into secretarial school in jeopardy and also prevent her from getting a man.

Cooley and Nealis feel they have enough details about Trish's perpetrator to arrest Ernest Miranda (Sebastian Quinn). Trish identifies Miranda in a police lineup. Defense attorney Alvin Moore (Andy Garcia) represents Miranda in his last case. The accused is tried and convicted. Flash-forward to 1966 with Chief Justice Warren (Kyle MacLachlan) and the SCOTUS' ruling that all Americans are entitled to be read their rights and have legal counsel at interrogations. ACLU lawyer John J. Flynn (Ryan Phillippe) reads over Miranda's trial transcripts and sees a viable opportunity to have his case overturned. Trish is fearful that a freed Miranda could come after her. She keeps her mother's wish by not initially disclosing her harrowing experience with Miranda to husband Charles (Josh Bowman). But news of a new trial puts Trish in an uncomfortable spotlight. Prosecutor Lawrence Turoff (Luke Wilson) represents Trish in Judge Wren's (Donald Sutherland) court.

Director Michelle Danner does a commendable job of recounting Trish's experiences and Miranda's trials in a straightforward and honest way. Danner receives excellent support from an able (and star-studded) cast. Danner and her editor Teferi Seifu chose to retard the action of the seminal event affecting Trish. That editing strategy works fine but Danner sometimes overstates her points visually and through the dialogue. Miranda's Victim could have benefited from more subtlety. The movie deserves credit for breaking new ground since Trish's side of the story has never been told before.

Miranda's Victim Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Miranda's Victim appears in its originally composed ratio of 2.39:1. Danner states in her commentary track that the movie was shot on film. Unfortunately, Vertical Entertainment's transfer resembles a slightly worn theatrical print. If you examine some of the screen captures I've gathered for this review, you'll notice small white specks. The source doesn't appear like it originates from the original camera negative.

Moreover, Vertical has taken a 2+ hour feature and crammed it on a BD-25. The MPEG-4 AVC encode is poor with the picture averaging a paltry average video bitrate of only 17848 kbps. I spotted banding and macroblocking in dimly lit shots. Colors are reasonably well-defined but the image often looks soft. It also sometimes lacks sharpness and clarity. Some of the prison shots are in black and white (see Screenshot #s 27-28).

Thirteen chapter stops, including one for the end credits, accompany the 127-minute film.

Miranda's Victim Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Vertical has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround mix (1774 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo option (1559 kbps, 24-bit). The audio definitely fares better. Miranda's Victim is dialogue heavy with sounds dominating the front speakers. When I played the 5.1 option, only low-end sounds could be heard along the rears. Very little separation and discrete f/x is audible on the surrounds. I would probably recommend playing the film with the 2.0 track. Spoken words are clear and comprehensible.

The optional English SDH look accurate and complete. They transcribe lyrics from a song.

Miranda's Victim Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Producer/Director Michelle Danner - this is largely an informative feature-length track by Danner. She tells of how producer/story writer George Kolber made the film happen. Danner covers the film's performances, editing, camera setups, and songs. She also recalls audience reactions at screenings she attended. Occasionally, Danner merely describes what's happening on screen. But overall, she delivers a lot of good information. In English, not subtitled.

Miranda's Victim Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Miranda's Victim tells a side to a very important story that had not been known for sixty years. While the movie breaks new ground with hitherto untold real-life events, it does not break any new ground on a cinematic level. The film treads some of the same material as Jonathan Kaplan's The Accused (1988), which is a superior drama. Still, Miranda's Victim gets a big boost from its terrific cast headlined by Abigail Breslin. Ryan Phillippe continues to stretch his range here. Vertical Entertainment's transfer suffers from a bad video encode and poor compression. The picture probably resembles video more so than the film stock it was shot on. It's watchable but could look significantly better. Director Michelle Danner's audio commentary is a welcome and unexpected surprise considering Vertical doesn't often include extras. As of this writing, this is the only way to see the movie on physical HD. RECOMMENDED.