The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Blu-ray Movie Review

The Catcher in the Why.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 12, 2018

Jerome David Salinger was around 32 or so when The Catcher in the Rye was published, becoming a phenomenon of such unexpected proportions and thrusting its unwilling author into the glare of such an omnipresent spotlight that Salinger more or less disappeared from public view for the rest of his life. It’s probably safe to assume that The Vanishing of Sidney Hall’s writer-director Shawn Christensen had Salinger in mind when he came up with the underlying premise of this film, namely a hugely successful young (much younger than Salinger) author named Sidney Hall (Logan Lerman) who disappears after his first book becomes a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and his second book is a similar best seller, though one that makes Hall question his artistic bona fides. There’s a supposed mystery at play in The Vanishing of Sidney Hall, and in fact several of them (more about it all in a moment), but Christensen has deliberately structured the film in a disjunctive way that only adds to the confusion as to what exactly is going on. While the film begins with Sidney in high school, with the young man inviting the umbrage of a harridan English teacher after he reads an essay about masturbation, it then ping pongs between two other eras in Hall’s life, his twenties and his thirties. It’s a risky stylistic gambit, one that was probably necessary in order to keep the “Moishe the Explainer” bits from spilling too early, but it’s also unavoidably clunky feeling at times, repeatedly robbing the film of true forward momentum. The structure does raise a number of “mysterious” issues, though, not only with regard to what caused Sidney to become a scraggly haired hobo, but also with regard to what happened to at least two other major supporting characters, both of whom are suspiciously absent from some of the timeframes.

Because of the piecemeal approach to plot construction that The Vanishing of Sidney Hall employs, it’s a little difficult to get too specific about the story, or at least how the story is revealed, without posting spoilers. I’ll try to discuss things in broad generalities, but those wanting to avoid even hints are encouraged to skip down to the technical portions of the review, below.

Sidney is first introduced as the intentionally provocative high schooler, one whose home life is far from ideal courtesy of a harridan mother, Velouria (Michelle Monaghan) and father Gerald (Darren Pettie), who may or may not be brain damaged, in just one of many unexplained or undeveloped elements. (It’s also interesting to note that the essay that begins the film is about a cheerleader that arouses Sidney’s erotic fantasies, a cheerleader he gifts with his mother’s name.) Under the nurturing tutelage of another English teacher named Duane (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), Sidney is encouraged to attempt writing a novel, which turns out to be a thing called Suburban Tragedy, about a suicide. Had Christensen’s screenplay engaged in a little more artful misdirection, it might have helped to increase the impact of an ultimate revelation that the book may have been based on the “real life” story of one of the other supporting characters, one who is notably absent from later timelines, other than in ghost form.

There are a number of frankly odd elements at play in The Vanishing of Sidney Hall that makes some of its attempts to weave a Great American Tragedy come up short. Among these is the patently comic performance of Nathan Lane as Harold, Sidney’s first “real” literary agent (after Duane serves in that capacity in the early going). The film does kind of wink at its own psychologically acute tendencies by having Sidney tell Harold that he (Sidney) has been hallucinating lately, as evidenced by the fact that he currently thinks Harold isn’t wearing pants, despite conducting business in his high rise Manhattan office. “I’m not wearing pants,” says the clearly pantless Harold. But how exactly does this add to the supposed simmering drama underpinning the film?

Equally odd, at least in terms of character, is Melody (Elle Fanning), an across the street neighbor who turns out to have been nurturing a crush on the teenaged Sidney and who later becomes his main squeeze. This character is ripped out of the “unique” template (yes, there is such a thing, despite the inherent irony) evidently favored by Screenwriting 101 aficionados, from the initial fact that she doesn’t want Sidney to ever cross the street to make contact with her to the later salient plot point (they’re all salient plot points in this screenplay) that she suffers from asthma. (Fans of foreshadowing may already be feeling the little hairs on the back of their neck beginning to stiffen.)

In the inimitable words of virtually any “as seen on tv” advertisement, But wait — you also get: additionally, there’s seemingly troubled high school jock Brett (Blake Jenner), scion of a wealthy family in town who once befriended Sidney years ago when they were both young kids, when they buried a mysterious package Brett had that he now as a teenager wants Sidney’s help in finding again. And there’s also Alexandra (Margaret Qualley), who is at a literary event Harold arranges to announce Sidney as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and who in essence becomes the “other woman” (though even this denouement is refracted through the shattered timeline the film utilizes).

There is one genuine surprise at play in The Vanishing of Sidney Hall, and that’s with regard to the character portrayed by Kyle Chandler, who is rather ingenuously listed in the credits as The Searcher. Suffice it to say Chandler’s character serves as a detective in the last of the three timelines, trying to track down the vagrant Sidney, who has become infamous for walking into book establishments (stores and libraries) and promptly setting fire to his works. While the function of this character is decidedly rote, his actual identity is kind of a neat surprise, and one of the few places where Christensen seems able to break free of self imposed screenwriting rules and regulations.

The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Vanishing of Sidney Hall is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. Digitally captured with Arri Alexa Studio cameras, The Vanishing of Sidney Hall has a consistently sharp and well detailed look, even if things never attain mind blowingly status. There are some minor grading issues at play, including some of the "middle timeframe" being offered in cool blue tones, and some of the investigative efforts by the co-called Searcher registering more towards dusty yellows and browns, but detail levels really aren't materially affected. Christensen does opt for some "arty" shots at times which introduce a certain softness. Christensen does opt for a number of extreme close-ups, where fine detail levels pop very well. There are no compression anomalies on display.

The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Like the video component, The Vanishing of Sidney Hall's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is perfectly competent and workmanlike, but rarely really out and out impressive. The film is built largely out of smaller dialogue scenes, something that in and of itself tends to tamp down over the top surround activity, but there are some good ambient environmental effects in some outdoor material, and individual vignettes like the big party that Harold holds for Sidney do offer consistent immersion. Everything is delivered with problem free fidelity, and there are no issues with elements like distortion or dropouts.

The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making of The Vanishing of Sidney Hall (1080p; 13:57) is the expected combo platter of interviews, behind the scenes footage and scenes from the film.

The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This may sound a bit on the cheeky side, but Sidney has the same kind of problem encountered by another famous writer, Jessica Fletcher of Murder, She Wrote fame, namely that people around him just kind of drop like flies. In addition to the demises of two at least fairly major supporting characters, there's a third death of a completely random minor character that has a tether to Sidney and his writing, and which in fact plays into Sidney's mental unraveling. It's just a bit much, and it tends to fray energy from a film that already encounters momentum issues due to the way the story is being told. I didn't have the viscerally negative reaction to this film that evidently most folks did upon its release, but this is one film about a writer that could have used a bit of a rewrite itself. Technical merits are fine for those considering a purchase.