The Knack... and How to Get It Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

The Knack... and How to Get It Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 12, 2016

After conquering pop culture with his vision for “A Hard Day’s Night,” essentially fanning the flames of Beatlemania via the all-powerful influence of the movies, director Richard Lester builds on his reputation for quirk and non-sequiturs with 1965’s “The Knack…and How to Get It,” which gifts viewers time with Swinging London during a particularly fertile period of style and sexuality. Lester doesn’t miss a beat here, investing once again in the power of avant-garde filmmaking mixed with dry comedy. However, the game of love doesn’t play to his strengths, with much of “The Knack” an exercise in visual experimentation, with Lester forgetting to add a little heart.

Michael Crawford portrays Colin, a love-starved man who’s jealous of his roommate Tolen (Ray Brooks) and his special way with women, trying to figure out his “knack” to impress Nancy (Rita Tushingham), a new, naïve London resident. While the plot teases traditional romantic comedy elements, Lester and screenwriter Charles Wood (adapting a play by Ann Jellicoe) aren’t interested in the norm. Instead, “The Knack” embarks on an odyssey of inner monologues, boiling sexual frustrations, and general impishness, with the director using Colin’s scattered mind to create a playground of the weird and wily as he probes social interactions. Technique is most valued here, not dramatics, keeping the main players one-dimensional and fully poseable, strictly designed to articulate Lester’s vision for playfulness.

The Knack... and How to Get It Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.67:1 aspect ratio) presentation preserves Lester's visual mischief, keeping detail available for inspection as cameras survey London bustle, comely extras, and the panicked reactions of the lead characters. Textures are satisfactory throughout. Delineation is equally secure, preserving distances and dense fabrics. Grain handles comfortably, securing a filmic viewing experience. Source encounters mild scratches and debris, and brief points of damage are detected.

The Knack... and How to Get It Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix maintains Lester's spirit, offering reasonably clean dialogue exchanges that retain the feature's interest in snappy interplay and weird line readings. Scoring holds its jazzy presence, offering adequate instrumentation and support. Atmospherics are thickly designed and register as intended, capturing streetwise clamor. Hiss is detected but never distracting.

The Knack... and How to Get It Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "Trailers from Hell" (3:00 HD) chats up director Allan Arkush, who shares enthusiasm for "The Knack," Lester's artistry and sense of humor, and the picture's influence on his own filmmaking career.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (3:43, SD) is included.

The Knack... and How to Get It Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"The Knack" offers time with London in the 1960s, observing fashions and attitude in a time-capsule manner. Sacrificed in the blur of activity is substance and perhaps good taste, with the last act playing the idea of rape for laughs. "The Knack" ultimately aspires to be a warm creation with plenty of laughs, but it's difficult to appreciate human contact when Lester is always disrupting the mood with his pronounced style and hunger for humor.