5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 2.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A nurse living in small town goes on a blind date with a man who is not the person he says he is.
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Shiloh Fernandez, Nick Nolte, Rumer Willis, Ryan PhillippeThriller | 100% |
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 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 1.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
It's not hard to imagine why an actress of Rosamund Pike's caliber was attracted to Return to
Sender, the ugly little thriller released on Blu-ray in September as a Best Buy exclusive after a
short theatrical run and now being distributed generally. Pike's character is the kind that
challenges a talented actor, because she's required to play multiple emotions simultaneously,
juggling contradictory elements with sufficient dexterity that the character remains a blur to the
audience while still holding their interest. Pike pulled off a similar challenge with aplomb in
2014's Gone Girl, scoring an Oscar nomination in the
process, but she had the advantages of sharing screen time
with a partner and disappearing from the film for a long stretch. In Return to Sender, she remains
front and center throughout.
Unfortunately, while Return to Sender's central character is intriguing, and Pike's performance is
the best thing in the film, the story itself is a frustrating letdown. To explain why, and even to
describe what kind of film it is, requires revealing several developments that many readers would
consider spoilers. Rather than debate the point, I will simply give fair warning (and repeat it after
the first screenshot). Anyone who doesn't want to know why I am recommending they avoid this
film should skip to the technical sections.
Whatever its failings as a film, Return to Sender certainly looks handsome, thanks to
cinematography by Russell Carpenter, the Oscar-winning DP of
Titanic
and, most recently, Ant-Man. Specific information
about the shooting format was not available, but the photography
appears to be digital. Image Entertainment's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray features a clean,
sharp and well-defined image that establishes an interesting contrast between the sterile
environments Miranda seems to prefer (e.g., the hospital corridors where she works or the shiny
white-and-steel kitchen in the home she hopes to buy) and the warmer environments where
people like her father tend to be found. The subliminal effect of the shifting color palettes is to
emphasize the consistent rigidity with which Miranda moves through the world, unaffected by
her environment, always wearing the same mask (though it slips somewhat after she's been
traumatized). The lighting and production design emphasize realism, presumably to enhance the
believability of a story that grows increasingly less credible. The Blu-ray image is up to the
challenge, whether it's reproducing the minute detail of Miranda's culinary artistry or the bruises
on her face as she is being examined in the hospital after her attack.
With no extras to take up space, Image has mastered Return to Sender with an average bitrate of
25.99 Mbps, and the compression has been capably performed.
Return to Sender's 5.1 soundtrack, encoded on Blu-ray in DTS-HD MA, features a distinctive sense of environmental presence in such varying locales as the hospital room and corridors, restaurants where Miranda gathers with her co-workers, the prison where William Finn is confined, Mitchell's hardware store and various outdoor locations. A few distinctive sound effects register forcefully, e.g., the repeated shutter and flash of the photographer documenting Miranda's injuries, but otherwise Return to Sender's soundtrack is a restrained affair, where even the violence happens quietly. Much of the film's emotional punch (to the extent it has any) is carried by the musical score composed by Daniel Hart (Ain't Them Bodies Saints).
The disc has no extras, not even a trailer. At startup, it plays trailers for Devil's Knot and Blood, which can be skipped with the chapter forward button and are not otherwise available once the disc loads.
Despite solid work from Pike, Nolte, Mannheim and (in her few scenes) Douglas, Return to
Sender fails at every conceivable level: in dramatic terms, as pulp entertainment, as a revenge
fantasy, or as a morality tale. Even as a trashy indulgence, it isn't worth your time, because
you're more likely to be checking your watch halfway through. Skip it.
2014
Unrated
2010
2018
Uncut
2013
2012
2012
Unrated Edition
2006
2012
2018
2018
2009
מי מפחד מהזאב הרע / Mi mefakhed mehaze'ev hara
2013
2013
2014
2017
2015
2008
2013
2018
Ahí va el diablo
2012