Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

The Trust Blu-ray Movie Review

Returning to Las Vegas.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 10, 2016

Nicolas Cage won an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas, and he’s back in the scandalous city for The Trust, this time as a police lieutentant named Jim Stone. Cage’s character isn’t addled by alcoholism this time around, instead giving in to another ineluctable urge: greed. Stone and his partner David Waters (Elijah Wood) become aware of a cache of loot and booty being stashed away by some local thugs, and they decide to relieve the bad guys of their ill gotten gains.

The Trust kind of ping pongs between a caper ambience and an at least somewhat more nuanced character study of the two cops who are probably well on their way to going over to "the dark side". The bulk of the film's emotional content tends to accrue once they've supposedly figured out how to break into the villains' lair, a scheme which ends up having unintended consequences, including the taking of hostages. Cage and Wood are both excellent in the film, but there's a certain lethargy that attends the proceedings, and the depressive tenor of the second half of the film makes it play surprisingly like Leaving Las Vegas.

The Trust Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Trust is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is yet another recent film whose technical data doesn't seem to be available online (at least that I could find), and so I'm loathe to state authoritatively whether this was filmed or digitally captured and then tweaked to resemble film. The look is problematic nonetheless, with a grittiness that doesn't always look organic and (more problematically, at least for me) what looks like pushed brightness and/or contrast that often depletes the image of detail levels. Fine detail levels are generally very good if not overwhelming, but again they tend to be mitigated by the brightness and contrast issues. There are occasional minor resolution issues in fine patterns like chain link fences and the like.

The Trust Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Trust's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix tends to be on the subtle side quite a bit of the time, though it sparks intermittently to life as the wild and wooly world of Las Vegas is explored. The film is fairly talky, especially in the latter half once the heist angle starts to unravel and the characters are left to pick up the pieces. Dialogue is rendered cleanly on this problem free track.

The Trust Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Filmmaker Commentary features directors Alex and Benjamin Brewer.


• The Dynamics of a Duo (1080p; 5:38)


• The Visuals of Vegas (1080p; 5:27)

The Trust Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nicolas Cage has become something of a punchline due to his seeming inability to turn down any project that comes his way. The Trust is midline Cage—it's not as laughably horrible as some of the actor's worst choices, but it never quite climbs the rungs to true memorability. Wood is surprisingly good as a cop struggling with his conscience. Fans of the actors may want to check out this middling entry, but should probably parse the screenshots to get an idea of what they're in store for in terms of video quality.