Mortal Thoughts Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Mortal Thoughts Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 26, 2022

Alan Rudolph's "Mortal Thoughts" (1991) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include new program with executive producer Taylor Hackford; new program with composer Mark Isham; new program with production designer Howard Cummings and art director Bob Shaw; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main features. Region-Free.

She had a story

Cynthia Kellogg (Demi Moore) has a story to tell. It is about the cover-up of a murder committed by her best friend, Joyce Urbanski (Glenne Headly). Detective John Woods (Harvey Keitel) and his assistant (Dawnn Lewis) are ready to hear her story.

A series of flashbacks reveal how close Cynthia and Joyce were before the murder, and how they could not stand the latter’s husband, James (Bruce Willis). Because James was an abusive coke addict both frequently agreed that life would have been much better without him, but it was only after Joyce tried to give him sugar mixed up with rat poison for his coffee that Cynthia realized how seriously fed up her best friend had become. Joyce always wanted a good man in her life, but after their wedding, James repeatedly proved to her that he had no intentions of growing old with her. In a matter of months, James had become an unhinged kamikaze and Joyce quickly figured out that it was only a matter of time before he would self-destruct. It was precisely when the frustrated Joyce began fantasizing about speeding up the process and letting Cynthia know that if the right opportunity came along, she might even single-handedly get rid of James.

The right opportunity came along on the night Cynthia and Joyce had planned to go out alone and James unexpectedly joined them. That night James was quite simply impossible to tolerate, but by the time they reached their destination, he was already so high that they had to leave him in Joyce’s van. It was the last time Cynthia saw him alive. When later Joyce came looking for her at the betting table, James was probably already dead. If he wasn’t already dead, then he was almost dead because when Cynthia saw him again his blood had covered the back of the van. How long could a man that has lost so much blood stay alive?

How did James die? Joyce told Cynthia that she came back to the van, they fought, and she slit his throat with a pocket knife. Joyce had to do it, or James would have killed her. Did Cynthia ever doubt Joyce’s story? No, why would she? Even though Joyce used to talk about getting rid of James, he was the one that was always more likely to kill her because half the time he wasn’t in control of his head.

Why did Cynthia decide to help Joyce hide the truth rather than contact the police? Well, was it a murder, or a tragic accident? Everyone that works in Joyce’s hair salon as well as her regular clients knew how abusive James was, and how she joked about getting rid of him, so she immediately would have become a murder suspect. And what if they started speculating that Cynthia had helped her best friend kill the loser? Then what? Cynthia had to help Joyce dump James’ body in the Atlantic Ocean and then go along with her story that he had disappeared. Her decision might seem like a giant error of judgment now, and it is precisely what it was, but at the time it made perfect sense.

Detective Woods has the whole story now. It is a simple story, believable too, but he has noticed a few small details that Cynthia kept mixing up. He has a pretty good idea why. In fact, he knows exactly why Cynthia mixed them up and has already rearranged them in a very different story. Does Cynthia want to hear his story?

In an exclusive new program that is included on this release, executive producer Taylor Hackford confirms that Alan Rudolph became involved with Mortal Thoughts only after Moore, who served as a producer as well, and other cast and crew members had complained that what they were doing with Claude Kerven was seriously amateurish material. Hackford immediately viewed the available dailies, came to the exact same conclusion, and fired Kerven on the spot. Rudolph was then offered the opportunity to save the project and he agreed to do the job, but only if he was allowed to bring a team of people he trusted.

The production troubles make it easy to speculate that Mortal Thoughts most likely did not turn out to be the film Hackford initially had in mind, but in its current form, it is a very solid film noir. Indeed, when its final credits roll it becomes a lot easier to conclude that Hackford actually got everything right, from the editing of the original material that inspired him to produce Mortal Thoughts to the decision to independently approach and contract Moore and Willis to having Rudolph direct it. Even Mark Isham’s sultry score is pitch-perfect for it.

The most distinct quality of Mortal Thoughts is its very unique sense of humor. It gives the narrative a spicy flavor that counters its noirish aesthetics in a very interesting way, which is where all of the great surprises emerge from. To be clear, there are some very effective twists as well, but it is this spicy flavor that makes viewing Mortal Thoughts an extremely enjoyable experience.

Mortal Thoughts Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Mortal Thoughts arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment.

The release is sourced from an older master that was supplied by Sony Pictures. If I had to guess, I would say that this master was prepared during the DVD era because it has some very particular limitations that are associated with the type of work the majors did at the time. So, you should expect to see some obvious limitations, such as less than optimal highlights, flat backgrounds, and uneven grain exposure. You should expect to see some minor inconsistencies in terms of color saturation and balance as well. However, on my system the film still looked quite good, and the main reason was the lack of compromising digital corrections. There are a couple of scenes where the lighting creates slightly harsher delineation that imitates edge-enhancement, but this isn't a distracting anomaly that will impact your viewing experience. As noted above, the current master gives the film a dated appearance and a small number of visuals exacerbate it slightly more. Image stability is good. I did not see any large cuts, debris, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. So, even though the film will look better if it is redone in 4K, I think that this release offers a decent technical presentation of it. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Mortal Thoughts Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Mark Isham's lush jazzy score makes Mortal Thoughts appear like a vastly bigger project than the one producer Taylor Hackford describes, but I can't say that I was disappointed. On the contrary, I was thrilled, which is why I really liked how nicely the lossless score handles the score. To be honest, excluding some minor cosmetic adjustments that may or may not tweak balance, I think that the current lossless track is about as good as it can be.

Mortal Thoughts Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage U.S. trailer for Mortal Thoughts. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• "Murder Most Foul" - in this exclusive new program, executive producer Taylor Hackford recalls the exact moment in which Mortal Thoughts began evolving into a film, and discusses in great detail the very unusual fate of the original screenplay for it, the mission to save it and Alan Rudolph's involvement with it, the film's very unique sense of humor, and the rise and fall of his production company. Fantastic program. In English, not subtitled. (15 min).

• "Troubled Dreams" - in this exclusive new program, production designer Howard Cummings and art director Bob Shaw recall how they were approach and offered to work on Mortal Thoughts, the visuals style of the film and how Alan Rudolph redefined it, and the state of the film industry at the time and Demi Moore's new production company. Also, there are some very interesting comments about the exact locations that were chosen for the film in Hoboken, New Jersey. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

• "Fatal Flashback" - in this brand new program, composer Mark Isham discusses his professional relationship with Alan Rudolph, the narrative construction of Mortal Thoughts and the exact role music has in it. At the of the program, there is a very interesting, and true, observation about Rudolph's best films. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic Adrian Martin. It offers plenty of information about the film's narrative construction and style, the manner in which the film was edited and scored, Alan Rudolph's career and style, etc.

• Booklet - 60-page illustrated booklet featuring essays by critics Walter Chaw and Pater Galvin.

Mortal Thoughts Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is good that Mortal Thoughts had such a complicated production history that Alan Rudolph had to come in and save it. Had Taylor Hackford directed it, which apparently was a viable option, it would have been a drastically different film with an extremely generic personality. As it is, Mortal Thoughts boasts a very unique sense of humor that gives its narrative a spicy flavor which I found simply irresistible. Is it fair to describe it as Rudolph-esque? I think so, though it needs to be said that Mark Isham's sultry score greatly enhanced the flavor as well. Fantastic little film. This Blu-ray release is sourced from an older but rather good master that was supplied by Sony Pictures. As expected, the folks at Via Vision Entertainment have produced a nice selection of quality bonus features for it as well. It is included in After Dark: Neo Noir Cinema Collection One, a six-disc box set. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.