5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
The story of a legendary stage actor who has an affair with a lesbian woman half his age at a secluded country house in Connecticut. Based on Philip Roth’s final novel, it is a tragic comedy about a man who has lived inside his own imagination for too long.
Starring: Al Pacino, Greta Gerwig, Nina Arianda, Dylan Baker, Charles GrodinDrama | 100% |
Erotic | 5% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps)
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
One can only imagine the internal conflict that brews inside performance artists who don't simply play a part but instead dedicate their lives to transforming into a part, who so thoroughly dismiss everything about who they are and so completely embrace everything they are not in the name of putting on a good show. What happens when one's true identity becomes all but lost -- maybe even erased -- and replaced by bits and pieces of current and former characters, essentially becoming the sum of someone they are not rather than the person they were born to be and molded into throughout the course of their lives, at least their lives prior to their work on the stage? One can only imagine the consequences of blending this delusion with senility (not to mention an affair with a lesbian 40 or 50 years his junior, dealing with her sex-changed ex-lover, and fending off a psycho who repeatedly insists he murder in her name), and one can only further imagine a movie that tackles these subjects in a far more coherent manner than this mess, Director Barry Levinson's (Rain Man) The Humbling, a grossly uneven and wobbly tale of an aging actor whose life spirals so far out of control that he can no longer distinguish between what is real and what is not, or even who he is and what it is he is doing. And neither, for that matter, can the audience.
Dazed and confused.
The Humbling's 1080p transfer provides good, precise details but is otherwise fairly unspectacular. Facial lines and hair, clothing textures, even scuffed hardwood floors are nicely rich in lifelike detail. The image does take on a slightly washed out, brightly contrasted quality that gives it a light, airy feel. Colors are still nicely defined, however, particularly evident in brighter shades seen in cheerier outdoor locations. Black levels tend to favor a brighter, slightly washed out appearance. Minor compression artifacts are evident in places. This is a solid if not fairly unspectacular HD image from Millennium Entertainment.
The Humbling features an adequate Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It incorporates some nicely distinctive yet natural surround elements, including pubic address curtain time announcements at the beginning, direction-specific dialogue in chapter five that moves between front and back dependent on camera position, and some beautiful reverberation later in the film when Axler confronts Pegeen's Mother in an empty auditorium. Light coughing in the audience and a few other small ambient effects give nice location-specific shape to the proceedings. Music is light, somewhat nuanced and well spaced around the front with minor surround support. Dialogue delivery is clean and precise from the center. There's nothing spectacular about the track, but a few well defined elements help carry an otherwise pedestrian, straightforward listen.
Aside from a 1080p preview for The Humbling (2:21) and 480i previews for Reach Me, Elsa & Fred, By the Gun, and Fading Gigolo, all that's included is "Making of" Featurette (1080p, 3:43), a brief look at the source novel, story details, Barry Levinson's style, and core story ideas.
The Humbling builds on the foundation of a good idea but proves too wobbly to be dependable in its exploration of a challenging narrative that deals with not only advanced age but delusions and the separation of reality and fiction, with the latter seeming to gradually replace the former. The film never finds firm footing or a definitive path through the murkiness, seemingly in an effort to visually compliment the emotionally challenged lead character but only resulting in a further narrative blur. Pacino, however, is fine in the lead, at least in terms of trying to bring something to an otherwise messy part that's too undefined for its, and the movie's, own good. Millennium Entertainment's Blu-ray release of The Humbling features good video and audio. Supplements are limited to a trailer and a short featurette. Skip it.
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