5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
A District Attorney has his life turned upside down when he's involved in a hit and run and another man is arrested for his crime and charged with murder.
Starring: Dominic Cooper, Samuel L. Jackson, Gloria Reuben, Ryan Robbins, Erin KarplukCrime | 100% |
Drama | 7% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
If you’ve ever been in the gallery at a trial, or even participated in one as a witness or a juror, you probably know that jurisprudence rarely plays out in real life the way it does on television or in the movies. Attorneys, whether prosecutors or those working for the defense, tend to be as eloquently articulate as mass media lawyers, and there are usually long stretches of absolutely suffocating procedures and court minutiae that can act as a sort of institutional melatonin. But even memories of a lost week or two in any given trial probably can’t quite prepare you for the stultifying experience that is Reasonable Doubt, and the ironic thing about this all is that while the film makes some passing effort to pass itself off as one of those legal system centered thrillers a la John Grisham or Scott Turow, it’s really a throwback to dunderheaded mysteries of yore where a crazed madman targets a suburban family and the morally wounded husband and father figure has to figure out how to defend his kith and kin when his own psychological slate isn’t pristine. The fact that this bottom feeding effort attracted the likes of Samuel L. Jackson indicates either that the film looked at least somewhat more promising on paper or that Jackson is seriously in need of a paycheck. The fact that the film’s director Peter Howitt (Johnny English , perhaps providing an indication of the tonal disconnect this film features) didn’t go the usual “Alan Smithee” route in removing his name from Reasonable Doubt, choosing instead the odd but somehow endearing “Peter P. Croudins” may indicate something else entirely—that even Howitt became aware of what a stinker he had created and that even the vaunted Smithee name wouldn’t create enough cover for what he hoped was his continuing career.
Reasonable Doubt is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1 (it's perhaps notable that Lionsgate is bringing out this Blu-ray when one of the film's co-producing entities was Entertainment One, perhaps indicating that not even Entertainment One wanted ancillary rights to this turkey). This high definition presentation is at least marginally better than the film itself, but it, too, is kind of lackluster, offering warmed over color and a surprisingly soft looking appearance quite a bit of the time. Once again color grading has been utilized rather ubiquitously (why is it that virtually every "gritty" crime thriller is bathed in tones of blue?). Fine detail is actually quite good in close-ups, though it tends to dissipate in some of the heavily color graded sequences. Contrast is dialed a bit low at times, including some of the interior shots.
Reasonable Doubt's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix has some good immersion with regard to ambient environmental effects, but the film plays out largely in up close and personal dialogue sequences which don't offer a lot of opportunities for sonic wonderment. James Jandrisch's score, which utilizes some pulsing synth washes, also spreads through the surrounds at regular intervals.
There's unfortunately no doubt about this movie: it's a bomb.
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