6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Mike Manadoro, a 19 year old from Brooklyn, will do almost anything to get out of his neighborhood and to study photography at a Manhattan university. The problem is Mike's father Vinny, a retired sanitation worker, does not have the financial means to support his son's dream. So when local mob boss Tony offers Mike a high paying job, he takes it. Mike enters college at the same time as he begins delivering mysterious packages for Tony. Juggling new friendships, old loyalties, a new romance and the world of small-time crime, Mike's choices begin to result in dangerous and potentially fatal consequences for himself and everyone around him.
Starring: Sophia Bush, Kevin Zegers, Vincent D'Onofrio, Eddie Cahill, Kate NowlinDrama | 100% |
Crime | 20% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Organized crime, along with its many children—racketeering, bootlegging, and extortion—has largely disappeared from the public consciousness. We’re all aware it still exists, in an ever-diminished form, but most people are more apt nowadays to see fat cat investors, crooked capitalists, and money- grubbing corporations as the real criminals. The last bastion of Old World-style Mafia-ism, the Gotti family, has been reduced to tabloid fodder, shamelessly flaunting their wealth and poor manners on reality TV. Al Capone and Lucky Luciano are probably rolling in their graves at the disgraced state of affairs. And yet, for some, the old way of life—with its strict codes of honor and punishment—is still in effect, awkwardly abutting a modern world with equally ridged notions about individuality and relativism. The Narrows, by French director François Velle, is a coming-of-age/gangster film that explores that narrow but nearly insurmountable gulf that exists for one young man between life as a low-level Mafioso in the “ass end of Brooklyn,” and the limitless possibility implied by the Manhattan skyline, just across the river.
He sees you when you're sleeping; he knows when you're awake...
Shot on high definition video—to better complement the intermittent peppering of Mike's digital photography—and given a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer, The Narrows doesn't look half bad (or full bad, or full good). The film works with a largely realistic and un-stylized palette that looks, to me anyway, a little too clean for this kind of story. As with a lot of digital video—the lower end stuff, anyway—colors aren't exceptionally vivid, but they are substantial enough to rarely look washed out or sun-bleached. A few hues occasionally stand out from the surrounding sameness, like the green felt of the poker table or the intense reds in the nightclub and darkroom. One directorial choice I didn't really understand, though, was the preponderancy to use a thick, mucky yellow cast during nearly all of the interior scenes. It looks like someone never reset the white balance after moving the camera from outside to indoors. Plus, it gives skin tones a dull pallor. In general, however, the outdoor scenes look fine. There are a few soft shots, but clarity is strong throughout, allowing us to make out fine facial textures and notice little details like the stitching on Vincent D'Onofrio's lapels. Black levels are adequate—though there are scattered instances of both crush and wishy-washiness—and contrast is solid, if a little on the hot side. Digital noise is kept to a minimum, and I didn't notice any distracting compression artifacts. Like the film itself, this transfer is a decent but ultimately unmemorable effort.
The same goes for The Narrows' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which deals out an unremarkable mix that's nevertheless easy to understand and sufficiently solid. There may be a distinct lack of sonic thrills, but this isn't some big budget gangster movie with massive shootouts and explosions. Rather, The Narrows is an intimate, small-time crime film, where the sound of a single bullet is more important than an omni-directional spray of hot lead. As such, this track is mostly successful. The sound effects—like slamming car doors or the aforementioned bullets—are crisp and convincing, and the rear channels frequently put out some subtle but place-establishing New York City ambience, like traffic sounds and street noises. There were a few times when I felt the dialogue sounded a little muffled, but the actors' voices are almost always clean, clear, and prioritized in the mix. The soundtrack is excellent, with cuts from indie blues/rock duo The Black Keys and a dance number by Norwegian electronic outfit Röyksopp. The rock music sounds a little tinny in the mix—it could stand to growl a bit more—but the Röyksopp track shows off a weighty range, with deep, distinct bass and upper-end clarity. LFE subwoofer output is put to good use at several points throughout the film, adding some emotional density to some of the tense conflicts. There may not be much to remember about The Narrows' audio track, but few will have any reason to complain.
Commentary with Director François Velle and Screenwriter Tatiana Blackington
For some reason, I just never found this track engaging. One of my pet peeves is when
commentary participants spend a lot of time "pointing out" what's happening onscreen—as if
we're not watching—and that happens much too often here. Velle and Blackington cover all the
usual topics—story, casting, production, themes—but unless you're in love with the film or an
insatiable devourer of commentary tracks, it's okay to skip this one.
Interviews
Rather than giving us the typical talking head blurbs you'd find in an electronic press kit, this disc
delivers some genuinely substantial interviews, both time-wise and in quality. First up is a joint
interview with director François Velle and screenwriter Tatiana Blackington (SD, 43:29). They
cover a lot of the same material mentioned in the commentary, but they're slightly more
listenable and engaging here. Actors Kevin Zegers (SD, 11:32), Sophia Bush (SD, 21:26) and
Vincent D'Onofrio (SD, 7:16) each offer up their own thoughts about their characters and
working with one another, and author Tim McLoughlin (SD, 6:23) gets to say a few words about
the process of sending the novel to the screen.
Trailer (SD, 1:19)
Passably entertaining but ultimately as personality-less and forgettable as that guy from that thing —you know, the guy you met at that party that one time—The Narrows never manages to stake its own territory, choosing instead to steal piecemeal from better gangster flicks. Though it's been given a decent audio/video presentation—especially considering its budget—there's nothing here to convince me that The Narrows is worth any more than a cautious rental.
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