5.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
As a 1950s suburban community self-destructs and home invasion has sinister consequences for one seemingly normal family.
Starring: Matt Damon, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Julianne Moore, Noah JupeComedy | 100% |
Dark humor | 40% |
Crime | 18% |
Mystery | 4% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Suburbicon throws a wrench into the nostalgic resonance of the 1950s, the post-war years glamorized in programs like Leave it to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show that explored the joys and innocent missteps in simple times where traditional structure and smiles saved the day, everyday. Director George Clooney's film offers a different view, a darker view, one that peers behind the façade and tells a story far away from the idealized pleasantries the timeframe promotes, a contrast which is probably the film's most effective component. The film offers dueling stories, one a sordid tale of greed and lust with blood on the horizon and the other of a closely knit white community rallying against a black family that has disrupted the status quo by mere proximity. The two stories, as disparate as they do seem, eventually converge in a few critical but largely coincidental ways, though the film nevertheless remains an oddity of blended narratives that never quite seems to find a purpose in its direction beyond attempting to stir the pot and remove the makeup from a celebrated era.
Odd things are afoot in Suburbicon...
Suburbicon may be a flawed film, but its 1080p transfer certainly is not. The digitally sourced image, which here nearly passes for film quality, is incredibly adept and essentially without flaw. A firm, gorgeously cinematic texturing reveals firm and sure complex details. Skin textures are stout and intimately revealed, showcasing every freckle, pore, hair, and, later in the film, wound with amazingly revealing density and accuracy. Environments are crisp and pleasing, with well manicured lawns, period cars and clothes, large fixtures and small accents in houses and offices always revealing the finest detail with ease. Colors are impressively bold, with big primaries popping regularly and with great complexity and vibrance. Saturation is fantastic and the palette, while aggressively showy, never feels oversaturated or unnatural; colors are certainly a major highlight in the transfer. Skin tones are pleasantly accurate and black levels beautifully deep and pure. Source noise is minimal and smudgy edges are rare. This is the 1080p format at just about the top of its game.
Suburbicon's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers a well-rounded, engaged, and sure listen. Whether effortlessly immersive atmospherics or complex, high energy audio outputs, the track always delivers its wares with confidence and precision. Surrounds are used extensively as necessary, carrying gentle environmental effects and, later in the film, loud, discrete, complex moving-parts sound elements with high yield clarity and stage placement, whether a crash near film's end or the increasingly chaotic din the protestors make outside the Mayers home. Musical delivery is always strong, offering exceptional instrumental clarity and seamless spacing to immerse the listener in the notes, though certainly the front end carries the bulk of the load. Dialogue is alway efficient in positioning, detailing, and prioritization.
Suburbicon contains a commentary and a trio of featurettes. A UV/iTunes digital copy code is included with purchase.
Suburbicon flashes potential, and with names like Damon, Moore, Clooney and Joel and Ethan Coen attached it's disheartening to watch the final product flop around the screen with ample opportunity but little to show for the talent involved and the plot's potential. Atmosphere is decent but the dark story offers little of distinction even against its contrastingly cheerful 1950s suburbia setting. Characters are all but terrible beyond Fleshler's and Isaac's, and it's criminal that the Mayers family earns no significant development, the family in the film to fill a part and nothing more. Its elements -- murder, mayhem, mystery, and racism -- never gel, yielding a movie that's all concept with little in the way of memorable screen execution. Paramount's Blu-ray does offer reference video and superb audio. A few extras are included. Rental at best, and check out Get Out instead, a vastly superior movie that accomplishes what this one is seemingly trying to achieve.
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