The Cemetery Club Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

The Cemetery Club Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 24, 2018

It’s hard to argue with the thespian skill on display in 1993’s “The Cemetery Club.” The combination of Ellen Burstyn, Olympia Dukakis, and Diane Ladd offers a level of professionalism that would aid any production, and it just so happens that this picture needs all the help it can get. Writer Ivan Menchell brings his play to the screen, but there’s not much of a translation, finding the staginess of the material creating a stiff, dry feature. Director Bill Duke takes a breather from violent escapades (including “A Rage in Harlem” and “Deep Cover”) to helm this soft take on grief and friendship, but he’s not interested in challenging Menchell’s work, preserving the theatrical experience for the movie. “The Cemetery Club” is notable for its casting and attention to the needs of fiftysomething women, but it’s rarely amusing and seldom profound, providing flavorless conflicts for its intended demographic, who deserve a little more intensity when dealing with matters of a broken heart.

Lifelong friends, Esther (Ellen Burstyn), Doris (Olympia Dukakis), and Lucille (Diane Ladd) have all lost their husbands, keeping close together as they each deal with grief in their own individual ways. While facing the marriage addiction of their pal, Selma (Lanie Kazan), the women try to soldier on with routine, but complications soon conspire to test their bond and easy camaraderie. As Doris remains loyal to her dead husband and Lucille strives to participate in a brighter future with social events, Esther is left in a terrifying situation when she meets Ben (Danny Aiello), a widower who offers kindness and personal interest, giving her a second shot at love after decades inside a marriage. Unsure how to handle such attention, Esther hopes to lean on her friends for support, but the trio struggles with communication issues.

Perhaps Duke isn’t the first person to spring to mind when it comes to guiding “The Cemetery Club,” but his hiring should bring more excitement to the picture. Instead, the helmer doesn’t inspire the most dynamic interpretation of Menchell’s writing, playing it relatively calm with a story that touches on death and relationships, taking a look at the grieving process for older people. It’s an interesting topic, and one ready for a more direct assessment of the blues, as Menchell is mostly going for the joke, keeping the action contained to daily rituals of eating at a beloved delicatessen and meeting at the local graveyard, where the ladies get together to pay their respects. There’s little spice when it comes to banter, finding Duke doing his best to respect the screenplay, giving Menchell plenty of time to shape dull punchlines and tediously argumentative relationships, with “The Cemetery Club” ultimately more effective when it’s away from the group dynamic, forcing the production to focus on intimacy, which is always welcome.

The story offers three main characters, but it’s mostly interested in Esther, tracking the skittish woman’s progress with a possible beau, responding to Ben’s interest. He’s a hothead ex-cop who overwhelms the widower with promise for a new beginning, and “The Cemetery Club” finds its most compelling interactions between these two, who move carefully into romance, while sex is complicated by her marital faithfulness, targeted by her late husband when she was just a teenager. She’s new to it all in her late 50s, and Menchell delicately addresses her anxieties and shortcomings. It also helps to have Burstyn and Aiello delivering the two best performances in the feature, making the tentative dance between Esther and Ben meaningful, extracting some very real emotion out of a possible cartoon. However, ultimate broadness is achieved during a moment where Ben struggles to put on a condom before their first bedroom encounter. It’s a bit of oafishness that’s meant to be light fun, but it belongs in a different movie, with Duke not accustomed to selling a scene that would be more at home in an “American Pie” sequel.

Honesty seems like it wants to find release in “The Cemetery Club,” which confronts very real heartbreak and fear when the comfort of a spouse is suddenly lost. The writing only periodically takes these concerns seriously, which feels like a missed opportunity. Darkness is avoided for obvious reasons, but “The Cemetery Club” is about death, only it rarely inspects separation, with Menchell focusing on the sitcom potential of the characters, with Lucille turning to shopping for a distraction, also urging Esther back into the dating pool, signing them up for a wacky singles party for older folk, complete with oddball men. Again, Duke is lost with Crayola moments, stripping them of potential anarchy or even sly wit, fumbling chances for the picture to break out and be memorably hilarious.

The Cemetery Club Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is sourced from an older scan for "The Cemetery Club," intermittently showing its age during the viewing experience. Colors are generally okay, handling livelier period hues, which emerge from bolder costuming choices and set decoration. Greenery is secure, and skintones are mostly natural, with some redness found on occasion. Fine detail isn't dynamic as softness dominates, but textures manage some life with close-ups. Delineation struggles under limited lighting, with one hotel encounter completely erasing faces. Source shows little sign of wear and tear.

The Cemetery Club Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix offers the basics with passable authority, leading with dialogue exchanges, which retain their intended emotionality and periodic dramatic firepower. Nothing is lost during group activity. Scoring selections are acceptable, with decent instrumentation supporting softer moods of mourning and personal reflection. Bigger soundtrack cuts find some resistance with highs, which mildly fuzz out when overwhelmed.

The Cemetery Club Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview (11:01, HD) with director Bill Duke explores his training in television, learning to deal with tight schedules, eventually moving on to work in feature films. Duke discusses his faith in the cast and their incredible talents, watching in awe as the lead actresses worked hard to make the material their own, giving it a pained reality. Cinematographic choices are highlighted, and the helmer shares his preferred method of careful planning, making sure creative choices are secured before filming begins. Interestingly, Duke discusses his frustrations with the promotion of the movie, with his press tours filled with disapproving journalists pointing out his race in relation to the Jewish atmosphere of the effort.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:23, SD) is included.

The Cemetery Club Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dukakis and Ladd make meals out of their roles, but Menchell isn't as compelled to do something significant with Doris and Lucille, keeping them at odds in a movie that's already dense with irritable, sniping people. The actresses keep "The Cemetery Club" going through melodrama, which piles in on the second half, including a third act that ends up exactly where most of these types of stories land. Predictability isn't crushing, but "The Cemetery Club" plays it safe more often than not, wasting a decent ensemble (including Wallace Shawn, Jerry Orbach, Bernie Casey, and Catherine Keener in small roles) and a defined cultural fingerprint (Judaism adds life to the material) to work through sluggish interpersonal struggles and a dim look at the worry of those left behind to pick up the pieces after the loss of a loved one.