6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
A courier hired to deliver a briefcase to an unlocatable crime boss finds himself pursued by corrupt cops and underworld figures.
Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mickey Rourke, Til Schweiger, Lili Taylor, Miguel FerrerAction | 100% |
Thriller | 72% |
Crime | 52% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 1.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
My mother used to upbraid me with that old adage, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all,” so with her dulcet tones still ringing in my ears, may I congratulate Jeffrey Dean Morgan on spelling his first name correctly. As someone who has gone through life routinely correcting people who insist that the final three letters of my first name are “ery” instead of “rey”, may I just say that Mr. Morgan’s sensible spelling helps me to at least partially overlook his wooden acting in The Courier. (We won’t even get into those pretentious fops who spell their names Geoffrey.) (Lest someone not realize the tone of the foregoing, all of that was said with tongue firmly planted in cheek, so please no tirades from those named Jeffery or Geoffrey.) Not all of the blame can be set squarely on Mr. Morgan’s shoulders, for this fitfully entertaining thriller has some of the most risible dialogue in recent memory, with faux poetic New Orleanians waxing philosophical about the hilariously named bad guy of the piece, one Evil Sivle. (C’mon, at least Knievel would have rhymed and had some name value.) Morgan plays the “courier” of the title, a delivery man of sorts who’s a highly paid mercenary who gets ransoms to kidnappers (in the well staged opening of the film) or, in the main plot arc, a briefcase to the mysterious Mr. Evil, er, Mr. Sivle, or at least one of his henchmen. The Courier doesn’t seem to have had much if any of a theatrical exhibition, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely horrible. It actually has some great knock down, drag out fight sequences, and those with a “train wreck” mentality will probably not want to miss the inestimable Mickey Rourke looking like the ghost of Fat Elvis (and you are not alone in noticing that Elvis and Sivle are anagrams of each other).
The Courier is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. This is a Red One shot feature and so has the sort of flat, textureless ambience that is typical with this format. While detail is as sharp and precise as it typically is in these digital features, The Courier is kind of an odd duck in that colors aren't always incredibly robust, most notably in some flesh tones. Many times color grading is rather aggressively tweaked in the DI stage, but that really doesn't seem to be the case here, as backgrounds look relatively accurate. Parts of this presentation are just kind of "blah" looking, at least in terms of color and vibrancy. Contrast is strong and black levels are solid throughout the offering, and generally speaking this is a clear and well defined looking Blu-ray, albeit with some peculiarities.
The Courier's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is about what you'd expect from a low rent property like this. Surround activity is present consistently throughout this enterprise, and is really rather well done in the several action set pieces, but nothing ever really rises to a "wow" factor. Some of the best immersion is in fact in more subtle effects like the roar of a plane panning across the sound field. Dialogue is cleanly presented, and fidelity is fine. Dynamic range is quite wide, and there's quite a bit of boisterous LFE on tap as well, not necessarily limited to gun shots.
The Courier plays like a knockoff of a knockoff of a knockoff, and if that's your thing, you'll probably find enough here to at least warrant a rental. But the film defies logic (there's a supposed "big twist" at the end that fails to really register due to inept writing and execution) and what we're left with is a few exciting sequences strung together with interminable character beats. The really frightening thing is the final moments of the film seem to be hinting at a sequel. Deliver us from Sivle indeed.
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