The Sporting Club Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

The Sporting Club Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 23, 2022

Even by “New Hollywood” standards, 1971’s “The Sporting Club” is an incredibly bizarre feature. An adaptation of a Thomas McGuane novel, the material has been realized for the screen by Lorenzo Semple Jr., best known for his campy interests, helping to shape 1966’s “Batman” and 1976’s “King Kong.” The writer’s impishness is in full display with the picture, which examines the panic of WASP-y types dealing with counterculture hellraisers and the true influence of their found fathers, inspiring a war of violence and psychological breakdowns. “The Sporting Club” isn’t an easy movie to appreciate, with choppy editing and limited storytelling restraining the dramatic potential of the endeavor. However, the overall vibe of madness is something to behold at times, giving the effort some surges of wild behavior and dark encounters, making the film more of a curiosity than a stunning summation of insane white people and their invented problems.

James (Nicolas Coster) is a failing businessman ready to escape his reality and head into the woods, visiting a camp owned by The Centennial Club. An organization run by the rich and powerful, The Centennial Club is celebrating “Century Day,” with gathered senators, clergy, and leaders ready to dig up a time capsule containing the secrets of their American forefathers. The patriots are eager to gather, while James reunites with pal Verner (Robert Fields), who’s joined by his girlfriend, Janey (Margaret Blye). Verner is not well, embracing a manic sense of mischief as he deals with the rest of The Centennial Club and their elitist ways, turning to his collection of guns to entertain himself and test the boundaries of others. While the festivities begin in peace, the mood is broken by the arrival of Earl (Jack Warden), who identifies himself as a “manager” of the campground, but he remains committed to chaos with his aggressive friends. When Verner pushes too hard on Earl, war is declared, transforming Century Day into a violent game of escalation.

Sexual fixation is a major element of “The Sporting Club,” finding James surrounded by lusty adventures he can’t participate in. This includes his office assistant, whom he catches having sex in a file room, coldly dismissing her in a way that sustains his power. A trip to the country is meant to clear his mind, finding his way to The Centennial Club, which is hosting a gathering of members in the woods, permitting James time with a strange collection of personalities. The most distorted is Verner, who welcomes conflict, even encouraging the practice of gun duels on his property, using wax bullets to make contact with his opponent. Janey is his lover, and another female James concentrates on, trying to quietly insert himself between the couple. “The Sporting Club” creates an early sense of emotional unrest and uncontrollable behavior, soon following Verner as he masterminds a plan to ransack a governor’s bus during a local visit, indulging a childlike need to be destructive.

Verner’s dark impulses drive much of “The Sporting Club,” which soon meets the privileged group of leaders that make up The Centennial Club. These are Detroit’s finest, at least in their own minds, looking to live up to power standards set by previous generations, with hope the time capsule will unlock new wisdom and a path to greater power. Of course, these are infantile men, and Semple takes his time identifying breaking points and rising hostilities. However, an actual plot doesn’t really kick in until the midway point of the movie, with Earl showing up as a pothead with limited patience for the gang, eventually taking a wax bullet to the lip, which kicks off a war between the entitled and the uncontrollable, adding some feral scenes of behavior to “The Sporting Club,” also identifying its storytelling shortcomings as drunken revelry is more interesting to director Larry Peerce than a shocking rise of hostile actions between classes.

The Sporting Club Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "The Sporting Club" is sourced from a "Brand new 4K restoration by StudioCanal." The feature is an odd endeavor, but cinematography isn't all that weird, favoring the hues of the great outdoors, with plenty of greenery and woodsy tones, extending to tours of log cabins. Some StudioCanal-style yellowing is present, but period clothing offers more varied primaries, and skin tones are natural. Detail reaches into textured living spaces and fibrous costuming, along with bumpy flesh wounds. Facial particulars are open for inspection. Outdoor exploring retains dimension. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is mostly film-like, but encoding loses consistency, creating some blockiness. Source is in good condition.

The Sporting Club Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix delivers acceptable instrumentation on folksy soundtrack selections, preserving the acoustic mood. Other musical offerings are equally defined, supporting montages and personal encounters. Dialogue exchanges are clear, handling surges in argumentative behavior without distortive extremes. Sound effects are basic but appreciable.

The Sporting Club Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features film historian Daniel Kremer.

• Interview (18:36, HD) features director Larry Peerce, who harbored dreams of becoming an actor, facing a difficult road to his college career, eventually making his way to North Carolina. Instead of waiting for acting jobs, Peerce found his calling with crew gigs, developing an idea to become a director. For "The Sporting Club," Peerce was attracted to the strangeness of the material after three successful pictures, hoping to move his career in a different direction with producer Joseph E. Levine, who eventually rejected Peerce's take on the story. The interviewee admits the final cut isn't his, pointing out "gaping holes" in the plot after a re-edit, and he recalls shooting locations and casting achievements, identifying the challenges of organizing an orgy for the film's finale. Peerce returns to his frustration with the final cut of "The Sporting Club," hoping new viewers will try to understand its subtext.

• Interview (14:52, HD) features actor Nicolas Coster, who offers a brief overview of his education and interest in acting. A fan of director Larry Peerce, Coster was excited to join "The Sporting Club," responding to the original material. The re-edit of the picture is examined, changing Peerce's original vision for the movie. Co-stars are celebrated, with Jack Warden, a former boxer, handling set accidents like a champ. Peerce is assessed, making a special connection with the actor, and Coster recalls trouble with the law in Arkansas. The interviewee closes with some career war stories, including his time with Laurence Olivier.

• A Theatrical Trailer has not been included on this release.

The Sporting Club Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Things go crazy in the final act of "The Sporting Club," which vaguely resembles the climax of "Caddyshack" in the manner it uses explosions and contempt to find a way out of the tale. There's more unruly behavior to come, including a reveal of time capsule contents, and Peerce just lets it rip, delivering final moments that welcome mayhem to make a bigger point about humanity and false gods, or the reality of American pride. There are sharp ideas moving around a semi-directionless picture, but some of these potent moments are interesting, offering provocative highs for an endeavor that's often drawn to tedious anarchy.