5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
In 1936, William and Helen Hemsley welcome identical twin boys into the world. But their joy is quickly tempered by a sobering realization; how could they give these children any kind of a life beyond the desperate poverty that haunted many families in the midst of the Great Depression? When evangelist Reece Wade reveals that he and his wife Louise cannot have children, William feels the Lord's prompting to give them one of the infant boys. Both brothers are born with passion, drive and awesome musical talent, but take very separate, yet converging paths. Drexel Hemsley rises like a comet and changes the music world forever. His adopted brother, Ryan Wade struggles to find the purpose for his life. All the way into manhood he wrestles with pleasing Reverend Wade, his loving but controlling father, who is convinced his son Ryan is called into the ministry.
Starring: Seth Green, Ashley Judd, Joe Pantoliano, Erin Cottrell, Amanda CrewDrama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.41:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
An album by The King famously proclaimed “50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong!”, which of course might lead some cynics to respond, “Says who?” But chances are you’d be hard pressed to find even one of either those tens of millions or any of the other tens of millions who followed in the wake of Elvis’ initial fanbase who would find The Identical as anything other than “wrong” in any number of ways. The Identical plays on a bit of lore from Elvis’ life that any true fan can recite, but which may not be known to an increasingly unaware public who tends to see Elvis as simply a spandex suited parody of what a rock ‘n’ roll “star” was back in the day. As any diehard Elvis aficionado can probably tell you, Elvis was actually a twin, though his brother was stillborn, making Elvis an only child. The Identical takes that idea—two identical twins with an inherent musical genius—and then crafts one of those supposedly “family friendly” entertainments that ends up playing more like overly strained and flavor free baby food, the cinematic equivalent of pabulum.
The Identical is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinedigm with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.41:1. Shot digitally with the Arri Alexa, The Identical generally looks sharp and well detailed, though it's at times a kind of curiously underbaked and unremarkable presentation. Two longish bookending sequences, as well as some shorter interstitial flashback material, are presented in black and white, and contrast is a bit overblown at times, leading to slightly blooming whites which also evidence very minor but noticeable banding on occasion. The longer color sequences are occasionally slightly graded to artificial hues, but generally offer a good, robust and natural looking palette. While the Alexa is often lauded for the range of light it can capture, I personally have occasional qualms with the look of scenes shot in low light or (close to) no light circumstances, and those arose for me again here, with several dim sequences looking a bit murky and ill defined. Brightly lit sequences on the other hand pop quite nicely, with excellent levels of fine detail, and commendable sharpness and clarity.
By far the best thing about The Identical is its fun soundtrack, which offers both some good cover versions of tunes as well as some surprisingly effective originals, all presented in a well proportioned and nicely immersive lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 environment. The sounds of early fifties' honky tonky are offered with excellent clarity, and once the music starts segueing into more traditional rock 'n' roll and then a kind of folk-pop sensibility, similar clarity is on display, with excellent surround support for the score. Dialogue is also presented very cleanly and clearly. The track has absolutely no issues of any kind to report, and offers excellent fidelity and nice dynamic range.
Much like the Reverend Reece Wade, The Identical has its heart in the right place, but it's simply an overly hackneyed and needlessly melodramatic account of one man listening to his heart and finding his true calling. Completely predictable every step of the way, The Identical does manage to wring a bit of honest emotion out of a few moments, but the only completely successful thing in the film is the enjoyable score, which is itself a jumble of pastiche and cover material. Fans of the film should be well pleased with its presentation on Blu-ray.
2020
2009
2012
2011
2016
2006
2019
2014
2017
2014
2019
Remastered
2004
2006
2013
2010
Christ the Lord
2016
Collector's Edition
2022
2008
2006
1955