Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

The Art of Love Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 6, 2020

Norman Jewison's "The Art of Love" (1965) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include remastered vintage trailer as well as an exclusive new audio commentary by journalist and critic Peter Tonguette. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

I am done with this business

They say that the most exciting time to be an art lover in Paris was while Amedeo Modigliani roamed its streets. The city had welcomed so many talented artists that it was awfully difficult to keep up with everything they created. In certain areas there were more art galleries than cafes and bistros.

The city that emerges in Norman Jewison’s film The Art of Love has a distinct Modigliani-esque vibe, but it is completely fake. It is populated by mediocre artists who are stuck dealing with shady gallery owners that are desperate to sell to clueless art lovers. All of them, even the buyers, are fully aware that they are contributing to a vicious circle of disappointing transactions, but they keep doing it because everyone else around them does it as well.

After a night of heavy drinking, miserable artist Paul Sloane (Dick Van Dyke) and his friend and roommate Casey Barnett (James Garner) hatch a plan for lasting success – they decide to fake the former’s death and then have his ‘masterpieces’ sold in a local gallery. While figuring out the details of his ‘very tragic suicide’, however, Paul jumps in the river Seine to save Nikki Dunnay (Elke Sommer), who is really trying to end her life, and disappears with the girl. Holding Paul’s ‘suicide note’, Casey then assumes that has dear friend has died in an awful accident, but proceeds with the plan they have agreed on. Soon after, the news about Paul’s suicide sparks unprecedented interest in his work and Casey begins selling his paintings in a local gallery that has previously rejected them. Meanwhile, Paul reemerges and convinces the business savvy Madame Coco La Fontaine (Ethel Merman) to rent him a room in her popular brothel in exchange for some of his ‘lost’ paintings, and while wearing a wig begins monitoring the evolution of his career. Paul also reestablishes contact with Casey and, with Nikki assisting him, the two partners sell even more ‘old paintings’ from the former’s home town in America that are being done in the brothel. As sales soar, however, Paul’s American fiancée, Laurie Gibson (Angie Dickinson), lands in Paris and after she learns about his suicide allows Casey to begin courting her. Tired of being a ‘great but dead artist’, frustrated with the fact that Casey seems to be benefiting the most from their plan, and seeing Laurie in his company, Paul then decides to temporarily frame his friend as a murderer and bring him down to earth. But complications arise and a few weeks later Casey is promised a date with the city’s oldest guillotine.

Jewison directing the likes of Garner, Van Dyke, Dickinson, and Sommer, as well as a rather impressive group of supporting actors, sounds like a recipe for guaranteed success, but The Art of Love is one seriously underwhelming film. Indeed, it is supposed to be funny and witty, bursting with energy and oozing great atmosphere, but it is just one big collection of clichés that make it absolutely impossible for the stars to impress.

All of the major issues with the film can be traced back to Richard Alan Simmons and William Sackheim’s screenplay which struggles mightily to produce attractive characters and situations. Jewison is left to shoot a series of mostly farcical episodes where the stars routinely look as if they are mishandling their characters and uttering lines that mean absolutely nothing to them. After the botched suicide Van Dyke’s performance is particularly problematic and the more time it passes, the clearer it becomes that it has a great negative effect on the rest of the cast as well.

The most exciting material comes during the opening credits. The beautiful and quite funny animated footage was created by David DePatie and Fritz Freleng, who did the animated sequences in the classic Pink Panther films.

The Art of Love 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, The Art of Love arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The new 2K master that was used to produce this release gives the film an attractive fresh appearance. Also, because the master is free of problematic digital corrections this fresh appearance also has the type of organic qualities we expect to see when older films transition to Blu-ray. This being said, the color scheme of the new master isn't terribly convincing. There are quite a few areas where a rather awkward yellowish hue destabilizes select highlights and even introduces mild flatness (see screencapture #14). Yes, some of the density fluctuations are very clearly inherited from the elements that were accessed, but there are obvious inconsistencies that can be traced back to the color grading choices and the type of color temperature the master promotes. Grain exposure is good. There are no stability issues. Lastly, a few specks remain, but there are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. My score if 3.75/5.00. (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).

The Art of Love 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.

The lossless audio track sounded very healthy on my system. It had convincing depth, great clarity, and quite nice dynamic range. In fact, the film relies heavily on Cy Coleman's score to enhance its atmosphere and the lossless audio produces some really wonderful contrasts right until the final credits roll. The dialog is stable, clear, and very easy to follow.

The Art of Love Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - remastered vintage trailer for The Art of Love. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - in this new audio commentary, journalist and critic Peter Tonguette offers an honest analysis of Norman Jewison 's The Art of Love, and discusses its genesis, relationship to the work of Blake Edwards, the casting choices, the main relationships and their elocution, etc. It is a typically good commentary from Mr. Tonguette, so if you enjoy the film consider listening to it in its entirety. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber.

The Art of Love Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is easy to understand why The Art of Love is considered by many the most problematic film in Norman Jewison's body of work. It gathers an impressive cast of stars and supporting actors but leaves them to struggle with a truly mediocre script that rehashes a seemingly endless list of overused cliches. Believe it or not, the most exciting material comes during the animated opening credits, which were created by the great duo David DePatie and Fritz Freleng. Kino Lorber's release of The Art of Love is sourced from a brand new but somewhat inconsistent new 2K master.