Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Splitting Heirs Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 17, 2022

Director Robert Young, probably best known for helming Captain Jack and Fierce Creatures, crafts the 1993 Comedy Splitting Heirs, a film that has little going for it beyond a catchy title and a bit of double entendre. The film struggles to find an identity, ironic, perhaps, given that identity is at the heart of the film. A heart though it may have, a soul it does not. This is rote filmmaking based on a deeply flawed and uninteresting script that takes a decent idea and fails to capitalize on it. The film is tone deaf and monotone at the same time. It's flat, vague, and unfunny, all death knells for a Comedy, particularly for one with underlying British sensibilities (though, in all honesty, these characteristics are pretty much the standard for today's so-called "Comedies," so to be kind one could say that Splitting Heirs was ahead of its time).

Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, Tommy, or not-so-better known by his full name Thomas Henry Butterfly Rainbow Peace, (Eric Idle), was born into the wealthy Dukes of Bournemouth family: fortunately, because it means he has a future of wealth and status in front of him, unfortunate because he was born to a couple of Hippy parents who accidentally abandoned him in a restaurant and, upon realizing their mistake, returned only to find him no longer there. Tommy was taken in by a kindly Indian family and never told of his true identity, though of course he looks nothing like the only mother, father, and siblings he's ever known. The family is also said to be cursed, and if he's not cursed by his name, he's certainly cursed by abandonment. He's further cursed when he learns the truth of who he is, but not before an eccentric American, Henry (Rick Moranis), swoops in and claims the title as the missing heir. As Tommy attempts to do the only thing he can -- kill Henry -- to take his rightful place, he finds himself seduced by Henry's fiancé, Kitty (Catherine Zeta-Jones), and his own mother, Duchess Lucinda (Barbara Hershey), their relationship unbeknownst to the two of them.

Mistaken identity and English aristocracy seem like they would be a winning formula but somehow the script is so dull and inconsequential that even a solid idea never gains any traction. Splitting Heirs exemplifies squandered potential in practically every shot, whether it's the failure to capitalize on off kilter characters or manipulate any given situation or plot device for even minimal, never mind maximum, comedic effect. Gags often lack a real punchline, and it doesn't help that pacing is atrocious, even at under 90 minutes, largely because the film cannot fill in the content in between would-be jokes with anything that draws the audience to the story or the characters.

Rarely is a film with this many good actors -- Moranis, Idle, Hershey, and Zeta-Jones should be a dream team -- so painfully dull. The cast gives little legitimate effort here, content to simply follow scripted commands rather than try to bring life to lifeless characters. That is not to say they are not good, that is to say that they appear to realize that even their best effort will ultimately yield little fruit, so why bother? If ever a movie exemplifies the truism that script and story really do matter above everything else, it is this.

Splitting Heirs Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mill Creek brings Splitting Heirs to Blu-ray with what is a surprisingly solid transfer. Of course, it's not a perfect transfer, but for hit-or-miss Mill Creek, what's presented here approaches something of a near best case scenario hit for one of the studio's budget releases of a decades old film. The picture holds nicely to its natural filmic roots. There's a pleasing grain structure at work, a satisfying cinematic flavoring that holds for the duration. Details are stout and appreciably complex. Viewers will appreciate the way the 1080p resolution brings out the native film element details, capturing faces, clothes, and rich British environments with tangible complexity. Characters are well detailed to be sure, offering fine point precision to hairs (and heirs), pores, and the like, while clothes reveal essential core stitches and fabric densities with agreeably complex depth. Colors are pleasantly bold and vibrant. When the audience first meets Catherine Zeta-Jones' character, she's wearing an elegant purple scarf that leaps off the screen. In the same sequence, audiences first meet Barbara Hershey's Duchess Lucinda, whose ruby red lips contrast nicely against her pale skin and black funeral attire. Skin tones are pleasantly healthy and full, whites are suitably crisp, and blacks appear appropriately deep but lacking the fine-tuned depth found on more precisely accurate presentations. The picture does show the occasional speckle and various signs of print wear, but rarely are these detrimental or even all that bothersome. Light compression issues are occasionally visible in the background but again not to a seriously distracting extent. Overall, this is a perfectly serviceable and even likeable transfer from Mill Creek.

Splitting Heirs Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mill Creek splits Splitting Heirs' audio across two channels in a fairly straightforward DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is not particularly noteworthy. The audio engineering offers nothing of value beyond simple dialogue, musical cues, and the odd sound effect here and there. None of it excites all that much, offering stable but sonically underwhelming presentation parameters as the sounds spread modestly to the side, never pushing to the edges and never offering the sort of lively and lifelike command and detail that separates the best two channel tracks from more forgettable ones such as this. Forgettable though it may be, the necessary parameters are present and in place to satisfy baseline requirements. Musical clarity is fine, spoken word definition and stage centrality suffice, and basic support elements come across without struggle. Much like the video counterpart, this is a good track in context for the style and age of the film and the budget nature of the Blu-ray release; most fans should be generally satisfied with the end result.

Splitting Heirs Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Splitting Heirs contains only one supplement: the film's Trailer (480i, 4x3, 2:04). No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. However, it does include Mill Creek's "Retro VHS"-style slipcover that mimics the appearance of an 80s video store rental tape and box. It's still a nifty gimmick for vintage releases all these years later.

Splitting Heirs Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Splitting Heirs won't give audiences looking for mindless entertainment a splitting headache, but it's a film that fails to fulfill promise, choosing to navigate through trite plot points and generally humorless gags. The performances are uninspired though the cast is very alluring and appealing on paper, but the problems start with a script that can't get off the ground. Audiences looking for something in the same ballpark as this, but much better, should seek out the John Goodman Comedy King Ralph instead. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is all but featureless beyond a trailer. The retro VHS slipcover is cool. Video is very decent and the audio, while forgettable, plays well enough. Worth a look at a super cheap price.