Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

The Duel Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 23, 2016

There are a number of amusing online sites that the enterprising Googler will be able to find which document names that are also verbs, as for example Sue, Bob, Skip, Pierce, Will and many others. There are even some more whimsical websites that work people’s surnames into sentences as verbs, with, to cite just one example, a certain Britney’s surname utilized to indicate she had harpooned a fish. But there aren’t that many people who have actually had their names become verbs, and in fact about the only example which springs readily to my mind is Franz Mesmer, whose name later formed the basis for mesmerize (and of course its noun form mesmerism). Mesmer famously developed his theory of so- called animal magnetism, a supposedly ethereal force which had purported healing properties (it’s notable that Mesmer evidently used actual magnets at one point in his experiments and that at one point he considered there to be a physical component to animal magnetism). Mesmer’s belief in animal magnetism ultimately also included a kind of telepathic force whereby people could come under the sway of (hopefully) a healer who could direct their psyches to alleviate whatever was troubling them (whether those traumas were psychological or physical). Mesmerism, as it ultimately came to be known, was actually an accepted part of the medical mainstream for quite a few decades, and there’s some evidence that it actually survived into at least the first decades of the 20th century in some “alternative” healing institutions (and ironically it’s still used in some modern day clinics that advertise themselves as alternative healing sites). The power of suggestion is one thing, but animal magnetism is probably something else entirely, even if the two were often mistaken for each other within the kind of odd universe of mesmerists. Both the power of suggestion and animal magnetism (at least if this term is understood as charisma taken to untold heights of influence over others) are on display in The Duel, a film which is set at what would have been the sunset of the initial mesmeric phenomenon. Ostensibly the tale of a Texas Ranger sent to investigate a cult, a group whose leader has a history with the Ranger (of course), The Duel also has a kind of subtext that plays into conceptions of faith healing, telepathic power and the cult of personality. The film actually probably sounds more enticing within this context than it turns out to be, but it features two strong performances from Liam Hemsworth as David Kingston, the rugged Texas Ranger, and Woody Harrelson as Abraham Brant, the probably mad Big Kahuna of a Texas town that bears all the recognizable signs of being a cult.

The film begins with a vicious knife fight between Brant and a man who is the father of a little boy who (again, predictably) turns out to be David Kingston, with Brant emerging the victor and little David emerging fatherless. That largely unexplained encounter reveals one thing about Brant — he’s some kind of zealot and he believes he’s doing the work of some unseen Divine force, though neither the work nor the force are detailed in any compelling way, either. The film quickly segues ahead a couple of decades to find David now a Texas Ranger. He’s called into a meeting with a territorial governor who is concerned that a rash of recent killings of Mexicans is going to incite another war with our southern neighbor. All of the deaths have been near the town of Helena (Texas, not Montana), which Brant rules with an iron fist. The governor tasks David with infiltrating the town (under an assumed identity) to find out what’s going on.

In the first of several questionably written scenes, David tells his wife Marisol (Alice Braga, niece of Sônia) that he’s leaving and she’s immediately suspicious as to the underlying subtext, telling him he’s never spoken this way before. The kind of hilarious thing is that David really hasn’t been speaking, since he’s the laconic Clint Eastwood type. One way or the other Marisol insists on tagging along (she has a number of relatively logical reasons to do so), and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that ultimately some kind of showdown involving Marisol is going to propel the film’s narrative forward.

As someone who grew up in Salt Lake City, a metropolis founded by an “outcast” religion which has been accused of having cult like sensibilities, I found the general concept behind The Duel rather riveting, though my hunch is those who haven’t had direct experience with those under the sway of a charismatic leader and/or who are in the throes of some kind of “movement” may find the premise of the film outlandish and therefore hard to believe. Once David and Marisol enter Brant’s territory, things almost immediately take a turn toward the dark side, and in one of the film’s kind of curious elisions, Marisol seems to fall under the sway of Brant at the drop of a (ten gallon?) hat. There’s an oddly lurching quality to some of The Duel’s narrative, with the story rushing headlong at times, and then lethargically pausing at others, both qualities which tend to disrupt the organic flow of the narrative. But as those without rocket scientist degrees will have already guessed, Marisol’s “descent” into cult like follower status hobbles David’s investigative efforts.

And in fact it’s the “showdown” aspect between David and Brant that provides The Duel with its most compelling content. The whole “dead Mexicans” angle turns out to be weirdly in the Grand Guignol mode, or at least The Most Dangerous Game mold, and almost seems like a pretense to foist David into Brant’s realm. The film might have had more emotional resonance had that “first” duel, the one between Brant and David’s father, received a more full accounting. As it stands, David’s out for revenge, for perhaps obvious reasons, but there’s a hollowness at the center of The Duel that a little more information might have helped to fill in. While the story tends to work in fits and starts, it’s the performances that will probably draw many to The Duel. Hemsworth is a stolid presence, offering strength and steeliness in what is in essence kind of a one note role. Harrelson is pretty much off the deep end here, offering a kind of 19th century version of some of the crazier characters he’s played through the years, but he’s an arresting, and some might even say mesmeric (hey, it's an adjective too!), presence in the film.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was perhaps at least slightly more favorably inclined toward The Duel than I was. Brian reviewed the film during its theatrical release and you can read his thoughts here.

The Duel Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Duel is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. While the IMDb is once again curiously lacking in technical data on this shoot, cinematographer Jules O'Loughlin's site states the film (listed under an alternate title By Way of Helena) was shot with the Arri Alexa, and it has the smooth, sleek and generally well detailed appearance of that format. The film has a somewhat yellowish tint in many of the outdoor scenes, while other sequences are graded toward the blue/gray end of things. Fine detail is quite striking a lot of the time, especially in the many extreme close-ups. Director Kieran Darcy-Smith and O'Loughlin have a tendency to shoot into light a lot of the time, something that can lead to lens flare, blown out highlights and general haziness (see screenshots 3, 18 and 19 for some examples). In normal lighting conditions and when the image is devoid of aggressive grading tactics, the palette is quite natural looking, if somewhat on the ochre to beige side of things a lot of the time. There are several long dark sequences in the film that don't really provide much in the way of detail or shadow definition.

The Duel Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Duel's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 eschews traditional Western audio approaches like nonstop gunfire in favor of some more subtle fare like incessant rain or the subtle wafting of breezes through fields to attain some of its more evocative surround activity. When gunfire does finally erupt, it provides sufficient force and occasional LFE to up the sonic ante measurably. Dialogue is also rendered cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.

The Duel Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary features director Kieran Darcy-Smith and production designer Toby Corbett.

The Duel Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Harrelson makes The Duel a fascinating viewing experience, but he has his work cut out for him due to some inefficient writing and a weirdly lurching narrative quality. Darcy-Smith has a nice eye for the visual side of things, and the general force of the performances is probably due at least in part to the director as well, but the film probably nonetheless misses the bullseye on more basic Screenwriting 101 reasons. Still, those willing to cut the story a bit of slack will probably find more than enough here to enjoy, and so with caveats noted, The Duel comes Recommended.