Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.0

The Ministers Blu-ray Movie Review

Does anyone remember the good old days when Leguizamo was a comedian?

Reviewed by Dustin Somner January 19, 2010

Given the recent success of Taken, revenge films seem to be the latest craze in Hollywood. All it takes is a single night of television, and you’ll likely find trailers for two upcoming films with revenge at the core. When you consider most budding filmmakers keep their finger on the pulse of what’s hot, it comes as no surprise that director Franc. Reyes picked 2009 as the year when he’d finally turn his first screenplay into a cinematic masterpiece. After all, he’d already earned at least some credibility as writer/director of the marginally successful 2002 film Empire, presenting the tale of an entrepreneurial drug dealer from the South Bronx. Unfortunately, despite the ideal timing for a second collaboration with John Leguizamo, Reyes simply couldn’t pull off the key components of a revenge flick, and The Ministers fell down the black hole of mediocrity (earning less than $3,000 in a meager theatrical run). Unceremoniously released to the home theater market through a fledgling studio, Reyes and Leguizamo are likely hoping for a strong show of support from the home theater community. Sadly, they won’t find it here.

I doubt she's interested in a book on religion after witnessing her father's murder.

13 years prior to the events in the film, Celeste Santana’s (Florencia Lozano) detective father is gunned down in front of her by two masked men delivering a religious booklet affiliated with “The Ministers”. Hoping to eventually track down the murderers responsible for her father’s death, Santana weasels her way into the homicide department, joining forces with her father’s ex-partner (Harvey Keitel). When word of a newly reported murder arrives at the station, Santana discovers the same religious booklet has appeared on the body of the slain businessman. Forcing their way onto the case, the two detectives soon identify a possible motivation behind the murder, involving a long-forgotten insurance scam where landlords make money off of burning their own buildings. One victim of this scam is Perfecto (John Leguizamo), who watched his parent’s burn when he was only a child and ended up with severe scars across his face. Together with his twin brother Dante (John Leguizamo), the scarred religious fanatic vowed revenge against the men responsible for their orphaned state, hoping to find salvation through the justice they inflict. However, in an odd stroke of genius (note the sarcasm), Dante strikes up a romantic relationship with the detective assigned to track him down, leading to a deteriorating relationship with his unbalanced brother and multiple revelations regarding the death of Santana’s father.

In order to keep the synopsis from blossoming to four pages of mind-numbing boredom, I chose to leave the rest of the side-plots out, and simply give you a taste of what you can expect from The Ministers. All you really need to know is the film fails to generate a cohesive storyline, resulting in a convoluted collage of generic twists. Without giving too much away, we have three characters out for revenge; a pair of detectives who wipe out drug dealers to cover their own misdeeds; a female cop with an attitude, who dresses like a GAP model; and an aging partner with a secret past that only becomes important in the final minutes of the film. There’s definitely potential for an interesting story somewhere in this muddled mess (especially in light of reported cases of arson perpetrated by the owners of slum housing during the 1970’s and 1980’s), but the disjointed nature of Reyes screenplay will have you wondering if he struggled to find enough material to fill the minimum length of a film. Don’t get me wrong, this certainly has the makings of a good “Law & Order” episode, but it remains weak compared to other revenge-themed productions.

My other significant complaint with the film is the awful acting. Aside from Harvey Keitel and John Leguizamo, the majority of the cast sharpened their teeth on occasional episodes of various television shows. Florencia Lozano takes the spotlight in The Ministers and quickly demonstrates why she’ll continue her career in the television realm rather than cinema. Between her fake sobbing, manly dialogue, and natural ability to turn any scene into a clinic on over-the-top acting, Lozano never once allows the audience to truly care for her character. Leguizamo is marginally better in his dual role as Dante and Perfecto, but despite several intense scenes as Perfecto, he merely sleepwalks through the film. I know Reyes considers Leguizamo a highly talented actor, but looking back through his career, I fail to share that perspective. Replace him with any other run-of-the-mill actor, and I’d imagine you’d get a similar performance. Despite my displeasure with the entire cast of The Ministers, the actor most deserving of critical attention is Harvey Keitel. I can’t fathom why Keitel agreed to be in this film from the get-go, and find it even more unbelievable he didn’t walk away after reading the script. From the second he appears in the film his performance is entirely off-putting (perhaps by design), but it’s his subtle mannerisms coupled with the way he talks that eventually becomes the most grating. If Keitel hasn’t fired his manager yet, consider this a personal plea to stop procrastinating.

The Ministers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080p utilizing the VC-1 codec (at an average bitrate of 25Mbps), The Ministers delivers an average visual experience that ultimately fails to impress on any level. Fine object detail offers reasonable clarity in approximately 75% of the film, but the other 25% appears far too hazy for a high definition offering. I don't mind a smooth, film-like transfer (not every film is meant to be razor sharp), but the lack of well-delineated textures became troublesome. Beyond the lack of crisp detail, the transfer struggles with the stylistic choices of the director, who drenched the source material in yellows and oranges. As a result, skin tones often seem a little sickly and reds appear overly hot. Since I never viewed the film during a theatrical run (if there was one), I'm not 100% confident I can attribute the garish hues to the transfer, since they could easily have been present in the source material, so I'm merely setting expectations rather than crying foul. I know I'm sounding like a bit of a complainer, but there's one last item worth mentioning. The majority of the film is shot during the nighttime or within low-light interiors (such as the police station). As a result, it's imperative for black levels to remain deep, offering contrast the opportunity to create subtle shade transitions. Unfortunately, The Ministers fails to meet the calling, delivering blacks that rarely extend beyond dark gray, and weak contrast that struggles to reveal shadow details in the background. As a result, we're left with large patches of dark nothingness that damage the overall depth of the image.

Despite my critical assessment of the transfer, it's still far better than a standard definition offering. Just don't expect it to be one of the better titles in your collection.

The Ministers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with prior releases from Maya Home Entertainment (a relatively new studio with a focus on Latin productions), all we're given is a Dolby Digital 5.1 track in the native language of English. Sadly, as with most other lossy tracks, the mix lacks the clarity and punch we've come to expect from a lossless mix. The film itself is a dialogue driven affair with punctuated moments of intense action, so there's rarely much expectation for the track to do anything more than simply deliver clear lines. To a large extent that's what we get, but some listeners will begin to notice a tendency for crackle to seep into voices during high volume dialogue (and there are plenty of moments where voices are raised). Aside from that one problem, the mix utilizes surround separation to a sufficient degree, and volume balance between the various elements in the track is spot on. So long as you're able to forgive the lack of a lossless mix, and accept the absence of rich clarity in the experience, this will serve as a routine audio presentation that merely gets the job done.

The Ministers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Interviews (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 9:31 min): Beginning with an interview between John Leguizamo and an unnamed female reporter, this supplement focuses largely on a discussion of Latino filmmaking (which grows tiresome extremely fast). Eventually, the featurette switches to a brief interview with Wanda De Jesus, who offers praise for director Franc. Reyes and compares him to Martin Scorsese (are you kidding me???). The final 90 seconds features Franc. Reyes, who offers a topical analysis of the themes in the story.

The Story Behind "The Ministers" (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 6:21 min): This is more or less a marketing featurette containing interviews with cast members and the director, intercut with clips from the film.

Rounding out the extras, we have a high definition trailer for The Ministers.

The Ministers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

When I originally looked at the cover for The Ministers and read the brief synopsis of the plot, I assumed this was a production with potential. After all, the key to a successful revenge story is quite simple. Make an emotional appeal to the audience, create a character we can sympathize with, and let the mayhem ensue. Unfortunately, The Ministers never generates an ounce of sympathy for its victims, and fails to present a single worthwhile twist. Add in shoddy acting on top of a weak script, and I can't see much point in even recommending a rental. There are certainly worse films out there, but this ranks toward the bottom of the pile.