Opportunity Knocks Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Opportunity Knocks Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 23, 2019

Opportunity Knocks lives on the road to, and through, mediocrity. It's a perfectly serviceable movie about a small-time crook who lands in a big-time con that ultimately challenges him to reassess his life while the threat of exposed truth lingers over every action he takes. It's a simple, streamlined, predictable, purposeless, but ultimately pleasant film, intermixing spurts of action, humor, and heart in balanced enough quality and quantity to hold on to a modicum of watchability, existing in a comfortable middle area in between genre giants and empty experiences.

Eddie Farrell (Dana Carvey) is a small-time con man who makes a little extra dough here and there pulling off stunts with his partner-in-crime, Lou Pesquino (Todd Graff). When one of their cons involves them getting mixed up with a gangster, they decide to steal his car -- which actually belongs to a criminal businessman named Sal Nichols (James Tolkan) -- that had $60,000 in the trunk. Eddie and Lou didn't know it was there, but they left the car on the side of the road to be stripped and the cash stolen. While on the run, Eddie and Lou break into a house where they learn that the owner is away for a month. Eddie takes it upon himself to impersonate the man who is supposed to be housesitting for the next month, a hotshot Harvard grad who attracts the attention of one of Chicago's most influential businessmen, Milt Malkin (Robert Loggia) who welcomes Eddie into his life, and business dealings, with open arms. Eddie also catches the eye of Malkin's daughter, Annie (Julia Campbell).

The movie is stale and flat, predictable and routine. But it’s also casually enjoyable. The script offers no dramatic challenge for its characters or its audience. Eddie’s arc slogs through well-worn terrain but the audience grows attached to the character thanks to Carvey’s performance and Petrie’s out-of-the-way direction that allows Carvey to shape Eddie with just enough heart and fine-point characteristics to overcome the otherwise overwhelming feel for narrative familiarity. Indeed, Eddie experiences all of the expected character arcs. He begins to find peace in his new life in a stolen identity, but the audience knows there’s only so much he can accomplish on borrowed time. And he knows that as well. Carvey and Petrie work just hard enough to keep the audience invested in the illusion, to root for the character’s well being and full-time slip into his new existence, even if there’s never any question that it will, in time and almost assuredly towards the end of the third act, all come crashing down. How it will play out and what the characters’ responses will be are never in question, either, but it’s still somehow watchable in spite of tired ideas and predictable execution. Carvey builds a likable character, key in allowing the audience to roll with the movie’s otherwise trite plot points and hope for the best, even with the all-but-certain foreknowledge that Eddie’s new reality will come crashing down sooner or later.

Opportunity Knocks Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Opportunity Knocks' 1080p presentation is pleasantly healthy with only a few shortcomings, notably the inclusion of various spots and speckles which creep in, lightly, from time to time. But Mill Creek's image is not prone to severe bouts of macroblocking or other source or compression flaws. Grain is fairly even in distribution, spiking in density a few times but overall lending a healthy filmic feel to the picture. Textures are pleasantly complex and stable, showcasing the spectrum of character skin, clothes, and environments -- from city streets to well appointed office and home interiors -- with an appreciable feel for depth, stability, and clarity. Colors are fine, presenting within a neutral spectrum where contrast is not overly boosted or subdued. Clothes, furnishings, grass and uniforms at Wrigley Field, flesh tones, and black levels are offer impressive accuracy and stability. The image is not flawless but it's not far from excellence, either.

Opportunity Knocks Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The two-channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack does not deliver an endless stream of high intensity and high yield sound effects but it does have some nice moments on tap. The track finds some of its most prominent details and intensity when Eddie is trying out all of the remote control functions at the "Stereo House" in chapter four and, later, when performing Born to be Wild at a karaoke bar. Other music also enjoys quality front side stretch, adequate clarity, and a surprisingly hefty feel for low end pronouncement. The track is primarily dialogue driven and the spoken word presents with good clarity and prioritization while naturally imaging to a front-center location.

Opportunity Knocks Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Opportunity Knocks is the only film of Mill Creek's first wave of I Love the 90s titles (Jury Duty, Double Team, and Excess Baggage) to include supplemental content, as scant as the content may be. Below is a list of what's included. No DVD or digital copies are included. The slipcover is described below.

• Deleted Scenes (480 i, 27:26): Included are Fast Money; Wasted Talent; Indecent Exposure (Alternate Version); The Yearbook; "Make Us Proud, Eddie;" The Men's Room Attendant (Alternate Version), The Netherlands, The Golf Outing, Eddie's Magic, Yiddish 101, "You Really Think I'm Charming?," Jewish Humor, The Synagogue, The Picnic, Dim Sum Connection, The Marketing Meeting, Lou's Playroom, Neighbor's Loot, and Back on the Con.
• Opportunity Knocks Trailer (480i, 1:55).

The release is perhaps most notable as being amongst the first in Mill Creek's line of "I Love the 90s" Blu-rays to ship with updated, and more colorful, "Retro VHS" slipcovers. From a base layout perspective, it's similar to Mill Creek's 80s-style slipcovers. Aesthetically, it's more colorful. The front image is at least different than the artwork on the Blu-ray case proper. A "comedy" sticker is affixed to the front towards the bottom, slightly overlapping a clapperboard sticker proclaiming "Movie Deals!" Mill Creek's "I love 90s" labeling appears top-left. The box is predominantly yellow featuring Carvey's Eddie Farrell standing on the left, holding a martini. The film's title appears in large red lettering on the right, slightly below center and also below a bit of introductory plot text. Carvey's name appears at the top. The VHS tape, which is sliding out the right side of the case, is a bright red color. It looks fresh and relatively new. There's no real handling wear on it or any of the stickers, including the title sticker in the middle or any of the three off to the sides: a "don't get fined, please rewind" notice on the left (in blue and yellow Blockbuster color) and a green smiley face and PG-13 rating stickers on the right. The right hand spine continues the illusion with the film's title appearing in black block letters on a white sticker along the VHS tape's spine, humorously with a Blu-ray logo at the bottom. The slip's rear side shows the bottom of the VHS tape sticking out from a fairly standard back cover layout that caters to the Blu-ray, not a VHS box.

Opportunity Knocks Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Director Donald Petrie won't be remembered for Opportunity Knocks; the film follows Mystic Pizza, his first feature film but best known as Julia Roberts' debut film, and precedes Grumpy Old Men, Petrie's best picture. Opportunity Knocks is a formulaic but perfectly serviceable little movie, offering just enough agreeable content to remain afloat and hold its audience but never working to kick into another gear. In short, a pleasant but forgettable movie. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is likewise pleasant but forgettable. It gets the most out of its budget minded 1080p video and two-channel lossless audio. Mill Creek has also thrown in nearly 30 minutes worth of deleted scenes and the film's trailer. Recommended.