The Son of No One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

The Son of No One Blu-ray Movie Review

Cop drama clichés drown out a potentially interesting story.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 8, 2012

Free to forget.

In the grand scheme of things, the world needs another Cop Drama like The Son of No One like it needs thermonuclear war. Or, better stated, it needs another paint-by-numbers Cop drama like it needs thermonuclear war. The Son of No One is, yes, a dark Cop drama with potential, but like so many other recent pictures of its kind, its scattered plot line more or less negates a halfway interesting premise. Director Dito Montiel's (Fighting) film is populated with big name actors who can't save a middling script that plays around with good ideas but that never comes together with any sort of cohesive urgency or purpose. The plot seems somewhat disjointed and the characters sort of meander about, themselves not quite sure of what's going on or why. Certainly, the plot is simple enough to understand in a nutshell: a rookie cop's dark past is being slowly leaked to the press in a precinct where the cop-civilian relationship is already on thin ice and a changing of the guard at the top of the force is forthcoming, meaning scandal is the last thing the incoming commissioner wants on his plate. Unfortunately, it all comes back to a lack of urgency and real human drama. Everything about the movie plays at about the speed of a man driving to his own funeral; it never wants to get where it's going and it certainly doesn't get there with any sort of spirit of vigor.

Someone's son.

Jonathan White (Channing Tatum) is a thirty-year-old rookie cop with a wife (Katie Holmes) and young daughter at home. He also harbors a dark secret: murder. It's one of the worst-kept secrets in the department, in fact, that White once murdered two people in 1986 as a child and inside the dangerous Queensboro projects. Now, someone is leaking word of his former misdeeds to the press. White is sent to deal with the leaks, printed in a small paper run by a journalism veteran named Lauren Bridges (Juliette Binoche). White believes the notes to be the work of a childhood friend, now a mentally-disturbed adult named Vinnie (Tracy Morgan). Detective Stanford (Al Pacino), the now-outgoing Police Commissioner, once partnered with White's deceased father on the force. He investigated the murders, knows the truth, but has chosen to cover for Jonathan rather than soil his relationship with the family and stain the department. White's been transferred in by Captain Marion Mathers (Ray Liotta), the next man in line for the Commissioner's job, in hopes that White will put an end to the letter-writing and save the department from an embarrassing incident and guarantee his ascendancy to the position he covets.

Aside from its general shortcomings, another "flaw" of The Son of No One is the fairly clichéd frame in which they movie plays. Certainly the movie's heart proves interesting and certainly it's somewhat original insofar as its nitty-gritty details go -- this is no absolute rehash of anything -- yet that same old basic "young cop" and "old cop" and "dirty cops" and "good cops" and "young wife and child" and "the department versus the press" and "the department versus the people" and "New York City" and "Al Pacino" and "a dark past" and "coverups" and "politics" and so on and so forth seem to form the foundation of nearly all of these sorts of movies. The Son of No One incorporates all of that, and accomplishes little more than adding another name to the growing list of "Dark and Gritty Cop" movies that are a dime a dozen and that only rarely yield a true gem, like Training Day. The end result is a movie on the edge of relevance but that falls on the wrong side, despite a fair twist ending and a noble effort to squeeze in a few original dynamics amidst all of the tired elements. It seems as if the movie never finds its rhythm because neither the plot nor the characters are themselves capable of finding that rhythm. The movie seems somehow short, missing one more layer to truly drive it all home and bring it all together.

Technically, The Sone of No One looks fine and features a strong cast, including "Dark Cop" movie stalwarts Ray Liotta and Al Pacino. Visually, Director Dito Montiel's film isn't exactly distinguishable from a host of other likeminded pictures, but he captures the whole "gritty" and "shadowy" thing nicely enough, whether in the flashbacks to 1986 or, to a lesser extent, in the "present" of 2002. In the flashback scenes in particular, Montiel has done a fine job of creating a seedy, scary location in the Queensboro projects where the murders don't just plausibly happen, they truly appear to happen. Yet all of the 2002 sets and locations are mostly interchangeable with any old Cop drama off the street; that's not necessarily a harm, but the movie definitely looks and feels more authentic and immediate in those craftier and more visually and emotionally arresting flashbacks. The cast is largely fine; Channing Tatum delivers what may be his most even and steady performance to date, certainly far improved from those dreadful G.I. Joe days. Liotta and Pacino live and breathe this sort of stuff, but it's easy to read their disinterest in every scene, whether relaxed or in the middle of the movie's bloody finale.

The Son of No One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Son of No One might need some work, but its transfer is nearly flawless. Anchor Bay's 1080p Blu-ray is marvelously film-like; only light banding, seen mostly on shadowy faces, mars this one. Fine detail is exemplary. Faces and clothes yield incredibly lifelike textures, not to mention city streets, building façades, and even the dented and worn lockers in the department dressing room. Clarity is superb, and a light grain structure enhances the transfer's details. Colors are vibrant and steady, though there's certainly a slight warmth to the palette in some scenes, and a colder feel in some of the flashbacks. Skin tones are neutral, and black levels are strong. These are the sorts of transfers that make Blu-ray such a great format; it wonderfully captures the look of film and replicates the theatrical experience nicely. In short, this is a superb effort from Anchor Bay.

The Son of No One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Son of No One features a steady and accurate Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The movie is no action extravaganza but rather a dialogue-intensive and mood-critical Drama. As such, it relies more on subtle ambience and the spoken word than it does explosions and gunfire, the former of which there are none and the latter of which there are but a few, which sound reasonably realistic. Music is pretty representative of the average high-quality sound presentation; it's clear, nicely spaced, and plays with both a quality bottom end and supportive surround elements. Ambience is nicely immersive, whether in the city, in the projects, or in police headquarters where chatter and clatter do well to recreate that environment. A rumbling train heard outside of Bridges' office plays with a good, solid rattle. Dialogue is clear and center-focused, certainly never garbled or lost underneath surrounding music or effects. This is an unremarkable track in that it doesn't really stand out as being anything special, but it's a high quality presentation in its own right.

The Son of No One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of The Son of No One contains a trio of extras.

• Audio Commentary: Writer/Producer/Director Dito Montiel and Executive Producer/Editor Jake Pushinsky welcome their fans and their critics before delving into a pretty standard commentary. They share stories from the set and discuss characters and the actors who play them, the work of the crew, shooting locales, the specifics of the plot, and other general insights. The track suffers through some minor gaps, and it doesn't offer quite enough worthwhile insight to make it worth a listen.
• Extended Scenes (1080p, 6:27).
• The Son of No One Trailer (1080p, 2:29).

The Son of No One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Son of No One tells a good story that's not quite ready for primetime. Almost everything is in place -- there's a good cast, including a Channing Tatum who finally shows some legitimate acting chops, and fine photography -- yet the story is missing the glue to hold it all together, the greater purpose to make audiences care, and the even the greater purpose to truly make it seem like the characters care. The Son of No One is a classic "go through the motions" sort of movie and also a classic example of a movie that feels rushed, that feels like it was made on an idea rather than a more polished end product, a surprise given that's it's based on a novel written by Dito Montiel himself. Perhaps it's just one of those cases where the written word just doesn't translate well to the screen. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of The Son of No One features superb video and strong audio. A few supplements are added in for good measure. The movie is worth a rental, and those who see the potential of the story might be better served to track down the book (unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be on Amazon) rather than watch the movie.