Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Sympathy for the Devil Blu-ray Movie Review

A beggar's banquet of cheese.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III September 15, 2023

Another one for the pile of mostly forgettable Nicolas Cage films, Yuval Adler's Sympathy for the Devil is marginally better than some in this category but still falls short of being a competent thriller. It's almost a two-man show; Cage becomes "The Passenger" on a road trip by forcing "The Driver" (Joel Kinnaman), at gunpoint, away from the hospital where his wife is giving birth to their second child. (Don't worry, the other one is at Grandma's.) While their encounter initially seems like a random, isolated incident, it soon becomes apparent that the victim has been chosen for a very specific reason, which keeps us one step behind "The Driver"... and maybe even "The Passenger" too.

Described as "a high-stakes game of cat and mouse" on the back cover, Sympathy for the Devil doesn't generate any real suspense in the traditional hide-and-seek way; its characters are pretty much constantly within a few feet of each other, with each one trying desperately to understand the other's motivations, behavior, and next move. One's got wild red hair dye, a ridiculous outfit, and facial expressions to match, and the other is playing a respectable working-class dad who insists he's not who The Passenger thinks he is. This implies that we might be getting some kind of yin-and-yang exploration of the duality of man or whatever, but Sympathy for the Devil shrewdly attempts to pull the rug out from under us by making "the good guy" a mystery man as well. (See also: A History of Violence.)

It's a trick that almost works (and at least builds to a borderline satisfying non-ending), but there's just not enough meat here to justify a feature-length film. This is a mostly kind of threadbare story that starts vague and stays there for awhile, initially promising an anything-goes trip to wherever the night will lead -- think of the nightmarish joyride in David Lynch's Blue Velvet -- but really just amounts to two or three stops. The longest and most drawn-out detour is an uncomfortable break at a roadside diner (shrewdly named "Roadside Diner"), which ends up being a hostage situation that further escalates into a firefight and multiple explosions. It's supposed to be the biggest set-piece during a film in which almost every scenario goes dreadfully wrong, but it really ends up being an early climax before the much more subdued final showdown a mile or three down the road. As mentioned before, its character dynamics and any intrigue built from The Driver's backstory carry the weight, as does Cage's typically over-the-top performance... but it doesn't add up to much more than a fitfully engaging psychological thriller that won't stick with you for long.

Nonetheless, there's at least some interest here thanks to the film's modest strengths listed above, but they don't all translate to a necessarily well-rounded Blu-ray release from RLJ Entertainment. Its A/V presentation is hit-or-miss and the bonus features are extremely brief and surface level which, along with Sympathy for the Devil's so-so execution, don't exactly make for the strongest blind buy in recent memory. (Please note that a separate 4K Steelbook combo pack is already slated for November, which may further sway the decision of anyone on the fence.)

Sympathy for the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Just to reiterate: RLJ Entertainment is planning a 4K Steelbook of Sympathy for the Devil for November, which seems like an admirable heads-up but only magnifies the fact that a few elements of this 1080p transfer aren't up to snuff. Like the plot, it has its moments as this mostly black-as-night, 2.39:1 framed image holds up in the usual areas with respectable fine detail, vivid neon-infused colors, and an overall level of stability that at least makes its provocative visuals stand out. However, trouble arises during the roadside diner chaos that ends in gunfire and explosions: there's one short stretch that suffers from some of the oddest and most distracting compression artifacts I've seen on Blu-ray; it's almost as if the whole transfer went haywire and just sort of glitched out for a bit. (See screenshot #20 and take note of the red blockiness in his hair.) Sympathy for the Devil doesn't always look this awful, of course. But the fact that such an obvious defect slipped by quality control doesn't set my expectations extremely high for the eventual 4K release, unless this disc was more of a hasty "practice run" to magnify any such differences between the two.

Sympathy for the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Comparatively, the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix doesn't always aim as high but comes closer to nailing its target, offering a satisfying mix of front-forward dialogue -- or more specifically, mostly traded monologues -- with occasional flavor added in the form of a decent original score by composer Ishai Adar and some respectable low end and discrete effects during extremely rare action scenes. It all mixes well enough to add to the overall atmosphere which, like the film, isn't consistently compelling but has a few things working in its favor. (It's unknown if the forthcoming 4K edition will feature any new audio options i.e. Dolby Atmos, but I doubt such a remix would add all that much.)

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only.

Sympathy for the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with matching cover artwork and no inserts. A few extremely brief bonus features are included, and they're appreciated but don't add much value to the package.

• Bonus Interviews - Four short and surface-level video interviews with key cast and crew members, who speak very briefly about their characters and/or involvement with the film.

• Nicolas Cage (1:02) - "The Passenger"
• Joel Kinnaman (1:01) - "The Driver"
• Yuval Adler (1:07) - Director
• Allan Ungar (1:03) - Producer

Sympathy for the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Yuval Adler's Sympathy for the Devil is marginally better than most modern day Nicolas Cage camp-fests and might even play a little better on subsequent viewings, but it's painfully threadbare at times and could have worked just as well, if not better, as a short film. Nonetheless, there's a modest level of interest here and die-hard Cage fans may be unable to resist. Sadly, RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray is a mixed bag with a few odd visual anomalies and few extras. All but the most interested parties should probably wait for the 4K Steelbook combo pack in November.