Sibling Rivalry Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Sibling Rivalry Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 22, 2016

Carl Reiner's comedy "Sibling Rivalry" (1990) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films. There are no supplemental features on this release. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Is your heart still beating?

I know exactly how Kirstie Alley’s frustrated housewife feels in the beginning of this film. I have a friend who married the man of her dreams and for a long period of time allowed to be treated like an object because she did not want to disappoint him. But the more she tried to please him and be the wife his parents wanted him to have, the more miserable she became. I could see that it was only a matter of time before they parted ways. I must say, however, that my friend never cheated. When she eventually figured out what I had known for years, she quietly packed up her bags and walked away.

In the film Marjorie (Alley) has a short affair with a stranger (Sam Elliot, The Big Lebowski) that profoundly changes her life. They meet in a supermarket, have lunch and then make love in a cozy hotel room. But the guy suffers a massive heart attack and dies in her arms. She panics and runs away but loses her wallet in the hotel.

This is where the film switches gears and becomes a comedy. A goofy vertical blinds salesman (Bill Pullman, Brokedown Palace) picks up Marjorie’s wallet and then enters the room with the dead man. He discovers the cold body under the sheets only after he drops a heavy metal bar that leaves a gaping hole on his head. Assuming that he has killed him first he contacts Marjorie to tell her that her “husband” has died in an accident, and later on tells his brother (Ed O’Neill, TV's Married with Children) who is a detective and is getting ready to become the new chief of police. Things get a lot more complicated when Marjorie’s single sister, Jeanine (Jami Gertz, The Lost Boys), falls madly in love with the detective, and Marjorie’s husband invites his parents and his sister and her husband to have dinner at their house with a special guest.

The film is quite funny but the overwhelming majority of the twists are not at all surprising. After Marjorie and the salesman decide to stuff the body of the stranger with pills and make it look like he took his own life, there are series of events that basically postpone the inevitable -- Marjorie’s confession that she made a terrible mistake. The clueless husband (Scott Bakula, American Beauty) then realizes what he has done and leaves. The funny comes from the awkward situations the many different characters find themselves in while Marjorie gathers the courage to reveal the truth.

Alley looks wonderful and does not overplay her character. Obviously, it is a bit difficult to imagine that a woman as beautiful as she is will have the problem her character has in the first place, but this is a minor complaint. Gertz has the right personality, though she also looks too attractive to be single and miserable. The men are less likeable. Bakula looks too cold and reserved, while Pullman tries so hard to be a loser that at times it seems like he is in the wrong film. O'Neill is better as the ambitious cop who unexpectedly discovers true love, but he isn’t given enough time to shine.

So, ultimately this really is a film that should appeal primarily to viewers who like Alley’s work and would watch anything that she is in. It can be genuinely funny, but there is nothing in it that you haven’t already seen done before.

The film was lensed by cinematographer Raynaldo Villalobos, whose credits include such comedy hits as Risky Business, Blame It on Rio, and Major League.

Sibling Rivalry Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Carl Reiner's Sibling Rivalry arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

Some of the indoor footage could look rather flat. Some light black crush emerges as well, though it never really becomes distracting. However, the larger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to spot other limitations as well. For example, grain exposure can be quite uneven at times and instead of clean and well defined lines there are some light halo effects (see an obvious example in screencapture #14). Color saturation also should be better. Some of the primary colors look fairly good, but but balance isn't optimal and there are even nuances that are missing. The good news is that there are no traces of recent digital corrections. Image stability is also very good. There are a few tiny marks, but there are no large debris, cuts, stains, or warped frames to report. So the master that was used definitely show its age, but there are no serious anomalies like the ones that are often present on older masters that have emerged from Universal's vaults. The upgrade in quality is obvious, but also fairly modest. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Sibling Rivalry Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

Jack Elliott's score is given a few opportunity to shine, but you should not expect to be wowed. This is primarily a dialog-driven feature and as such its original sound design does not a wide range of nuanced dynamics. Separation and balance are very good. The dialog is clean, stable, and always easy to follow. However, optional English subtitles should have been included for viewers that might need them.

Sibling Rivalry Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray release.

Sibling Rivalry Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Carl Reiner's comedy Sibling Rivalry should appeal primarily to fans of Kirstie Alley's work. There could also be a small group of people that saw it theatrically with someone special that would want to revisit it on Blu-ray. The film isn't bad, it is actually quite funny, but it is very predictable and to be honest instantly forgettable. Olive Films' technical presentation is rather good, but the film can look better in high-definition. RENT IT.