Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Take This Job and Shove It Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 3, 2021

Gus Trikonis' "Take This Job and Shove It" (1981) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage promotional materials for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Between the early 1970s and late 1980s Gus Trikonis made a number of films that are impossible to properly profile. There are a couple of reasons why. The most obvious one was Trikonis’ strong desire to be recognized as a versatile director that could do equally good work with drastically different material that produced some very unusual overlapping of stylistic preferences. (Hence, why Trikonis shot Supercock in the Philippines and immediately after that completed The Swinging Barmaids and Nashville Girl). Another reason is Trikonis’ approach to character development. Indeed, regardless of the nature of the material Trikonis worked with his films always introduced unique characters with very particular philosophies of life. (By the way, this remained Trikonis’ modus operandi even later on, after he began shooting films for TV). Also, before he made his directorial debut with Five the Hard Way in 1969 Trikonis spent plenty of time before the camera as an actor and later on this experience allowed him to maintain a very interesting bond with the actors he worked with while he was behind the camera, which is why practically all of his films have a very particular ‘loose’ quality. In other words, Trikonis’ films have some key characteristics that make them easy to recognize, but they are not conventional genre films that play by conventional rules. Just to be clear, this does not mean that they are all quality films. All it means is that as a director Trikonis did certain things his way and this is why his films look different.

In Take This Job and Shove It, junior executive Frank Macklin (Robert Hayes) is dispatched back to his home town of Dubuque, Iowa to finalize a business deal that would provide a small but famous local brewery with a brand new corporate owner. But having spent more than a decade away from Dubuque and adopted a new personality, Frank has a difficult time doing the job because he needs to either retrain or fire old friends that have been making ends meet at the brewery their entire adult lives. An inevitable reunion with his former girlfriend, J.M. Halstead (Barbara Hershey), who has attempted to rebuild her life after his departure and failed miserably, further complicates his mission as well. Nevertheless, Frank vows not to disappoint his corporate boss, but his dedication to meet his seemingly constantly evolving requirements for the takeover gradually make him realize that he can’t be proud of the professional he has become.

Take This Job and Shove It is an extremely close relative of Hard Country, which means that it is a ‘kitchen sink’ drama disguised as a comedy. Indeed, even though Frank’s return to Dubuque is defined by his often quite hilarious attempts to adjust to the small-town reality that years ago he vowed to forget, his presence there is essentially a litmus test that allows Trikonis to offer a very accurate summation of existence in the American Heartland. It is why the emotional ups and downs in this film are so unpredictable and often with massive consequences for all kinds of seemingly unrelated people that are trying to survive as they best as they can. Their struggle is misinterpreted as the ‘easy life’, but behind the big noise and laughter are actually all sorts of different broken dreams and ultimately a realization that they are all stuck in a perpetual cycle of barely manageable misery.

The optimistic finale works but at the same time is quite deceiving. Trikonis allows Frank and the locals to regain control of their lives and then leaves them with a smile on their faces. However, it does not take a genius to realize that it is only a matter of time before the local economy is irreversibly altered by outside interests and with it the lives of everyone that has been contributing to it. By the late 1990s, this exact scenario was replicated all over the Rust Belt.

Take This Job and Shove It 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, Take This Job and Shove It arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an old but very solid organic master that was supplied by StudioCanal. Delineation, clarity, and depth range from good to very good and occasionally even excellent. The best visual material emerges during daylight close-ups, but even wider panoramic footage can look very strong. During indoor footage you will notice some clipped highlights, but the overall visual balance is still very strong. There are no traces of problematic degraining work. However, ideally grain exposure and density levels should be slightly better. Colors are stable and nicely balanced, but they can be fresher and with even better nuances. Image stability is very good. I noticed a few blemishes and stains as well as a couple of tiny flecks, but there are no large distracting debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. All in all, even though there is room for some meaningful improvements, this is a very fine technical presentation of the film. My score is 4.25/5.00. (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).

Take This Job and Shove It Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I did not encounter any anomalies to report in our review. The audio was very clear, sharp, and nicely rounded. There were no balance issues either. Some dynamic fluctuations exist, especially during the mass sequences -- the bar brawls/games, the mud fights, etc. -- but they are part of the original sound design. There are no audio dropouts, pops, or distortions to report in our review.

Take This Job and Shove It Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - vintage trailer for Take This Job and Shove It. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Image Gallery - a collection of production and promotional materials for the film. With music. (3 min).

Take This Job and Shove It Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are a couple of Gus Trikonis' late TV films that I still have not seen, which is why I am somewhat uncomfortable discussing his body of work. However, I have seen enough to declare that as a director he did not go to work to meet other people's expectations. Indeed, even some of Trikonis' average films have unique personalities that make them rather special. Take This Job and Shove It is a 'kitchen sink' drama disguised as a comedy that offers a very accurate summation of everyday life in the American Heartland during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I think that it works very well. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an older but solid organic master that was supplied by StudioCanal. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.