6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A young mother who reconnects with her larger than life playboy father on an adventure through New York.
Starring: Rashida Jones, Bill Murray, Marlon Wayans, Jenny Slate, Jessica HenwickDrama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Adventure | 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 SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
There's an arguably slight lapse in emotional logic underpinning On the Rocks, though the story does eventually get around to dealing with it. Laura Keane (Rashida Jones) is a young woman who seems to have it all: a successful career as a writer, a dashing husband named Dean (Marlon Wayans), and two adorable daughters. For reasons which are perhaps understandable but are still a little on the questionable side, Laura begins to suspect that Dean may be cheating on her, and she reaches out to her father Felix (Bill Murray) for support. And it's in this structural linchpin that On the Rocks may strain credulity more than just a bit, since it's clear almost from the get go that Felix has a somewhat wavering moral compass and, it turns out, had cheated on Laura's mother back in the day, which would seem to suggest that Laura probably might have found a better source of advice elsewhere. If there's therefore a perhaps niggling disconnect between an implied family history and the way an adult child reacts to a parent due to that history, it's to On the Rocks' credit that the fractious relationship between the father and daughter is generally believable, brought to life by Sofia Coppola's appealing screenplay and some wonderfully lived in performances by the star duo.
On the Rocks is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Coppola and cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd opted for good, old fashioned film (Kodak stock is listed in the film's closing credits roll), and the IMDb states that a 4K DI was prepared. The results are nicely organic looking for the most part in high definition, though I personally found some of the grain resolution to be just a little swarm like at times (look, for example, at screenshots 18 and 19, where there's a kind of fuzziness on display). The palette tends to be pretty tamped down a lot of the time until everyone ventures to sunnier climes, at which point it begins popping considerably more, with one especially evocative sequence where Jones is wearing a yellow dress and the production design emphasizes purples in the background. Detail levels are also generally effectively precise looking throughout the presentation. There are quite a few nighttime scenes and/or dimly lit interior scenes, and some may pine for a bit more shadow definition at times.
On the Rocks features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which may not be overly "showy", but which nonetheless provides consistent activity in the surround channels, courtesy of both a wealth of ambient environmental sounds in both urban and more rustic (if exotic) environments, as well as the fun score by Phoenix and attendant source cues from a variety of jazz types. Some of the outdoor material set next to the ocean benefits from appropriate washes of sound panning through the surround channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.
While there is a menu item touting Bonus Features on this disc, it turns out to offer only trailers for other releases from A24 and/or Lionsgate. I don't consider marketing items like trailers for other releases to be "scorable", hence the lack of a score above. Perhaps surprisingly, Lionsgate has not included a digital copy with this release, but packaging does feature a slipcover.
Some sidebars to the main story, like Felix's penchant toward "lounge lizard" singing, seem contrived only to take advantage of some of Bill Murray's strengths (?) or at least preferences, and the main story itself may not exactly ring true at a fundamental level despite a screenplay that does attempt to deal with long festering "issues" in the dysfunctional family category. All of that said, On the Rocks is still rather surprisingly breezy and bright, and both Murray and Jones are a delight. Technical merits are generally solid, and On the Rocks comes Recommended.
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