The World Made Straight Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

The World Made Straight Blu-ray Movie Review

Shades of gray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 10, 2015

The World Made Straight, sourced from the 2006 novel of the same name by Author Ron Rash, comes from first-time feature filmmaker David Burris, whose career has, to now, been largely defined in the producer's role in the hit and long-running television program Survivor. It's an odd marriage, then, mixing a high-profile producer of a "reality" television show with source material that explores complicated Southern Civil War history in a modern context of personal shame and missed potential, a rise form obscurity, budding romance, sexual abuse, drug dealing, and relationships bonded and broken by blood. The result is expectedly a bit uneven. The film fails to find a solid footing while wading through a murky, complex landscape of gray area history holding together a dark past and a hopeful, yet in many ways dimming, future, all the while dazzling with its impressive lived-in, authentic visual flavor and strong lead performances.

In too deep.

Go-nowhere dropout Travis Shelton (Jeremy Irvine) has a good head on his shoulders, but circumstances have forced him into a life not befitting someone of his potential. He's been fired from his job by a local grocer who favors profit over people. Travis one day stumbles upon some local "vegetation" which he proceeds to steal and, with his friend Shane's (Haley Joel Osment) help, finds a buyer in a disgraced former schoolteacher named Leonard (Noah Wyle) who lives with his drug-addicted girlfriend Dena (Minka Kelly). When Travis returns to the well for a second helping of the valuable plant life, he finds himself caught in a bear trap. He awakens, badly wounded, and presumably about to die at the hands of trap-setters and plant-owners Carlton (Steve Earle) and Hubert (Marcus Hester). He's ultimately spared, and while recovering in the hospital he befriends new love interest Lori (Adelaide Clemens) and finds himself drawn to Civil War history, which just so happens to be Leonard's speciality. With Leonard's help, Travis works to turn his life around, earn his GED, and find a future for himself. But complications both distant and present stand in his way.

The World Made Straight might not be readily classified as "entertainment." It's rather a thought-provking examination of a world clouded by long finished yet still unsettled history. The film is, at its most superficial, a story of growth in the here-and-now, seeded in the shadow of a complicated past, where a good samaritan, himself wounded by life, takes a young man who is all potential under his wing, despite there being more to their bond than that which they build and share in the moment. This is a slow, deliberately constructed film, one that, even as a deep and thorough character and place history feels a little unevenly edited as it meanders through a wide swath of interconnected content that's as much about sweeping the past aside as it is unburying it -- literally, at times -- and as much about personal growth as it is interpersonal collapse. Through its journey of past and present and cloudy future, the picture works through a number of tangible themes that define life in the Carolina Appalachians and, obviously, complicate matters for the protagonists, the people wounded by life but working to make it through, a challenge in a place where the lengthy, strong grasp of both the long-ago past and recent history alike have a way of holding on and refusing to let go, lest one take dramatic measures to leave it all behind.

The film proves a somewhat more rewarding experience on its surface. While it commendably efforts to unearth a complicated tale of past and present sin and an effort to escape from it all, there's a much more gratifying superficial experience that makes the film worth a watch. It's beautifully shot, finding a full, filling view of rugged Appalachia that's as tangible as anything in the movie, not simply in the raw visual sense but as a sort of lifeblood that carries the film, much in the same way Leonard identifies the spirit of a bygone Civil War era lingering in a beautiful little slice of Heaven on Earth where he and Travis begin their journey into the past. The authentic feel and flavor, often set against a forming sense of family and ferocity, is easily the film's finest feature. It's rugged yet natural, a film that embraces the heritage it displays rather than merely replicating it, necessary, certainly, to finding the story's center where place and time are so critical to defining all it has to offer. The performances are likewise strong, with good, natural interplay between Jeremy Irvine and Noah Wiley in a mentor-student relationship that runs deeper than the basics suggests. The film additionally sees strong performances from Steven Earle and Adelaide Clemens. Watch for a nearly unrecognizable Haley Joel Osment as Travis' friend Shane.

The World Made Straight Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The World Made Straight's 1080p transfer lacks much in the way of character, but it gets the job done. It's frequently smeary around the edges, particularly evident when vegetation dissolves into a blurry mass around corners. However, tighter shots reveal adequate foliage texture. Faces are a little flat and lacking in the most extreme of intricate detail, but general surfaces -- frayed ball caps, chipped paint, and old, weathered wood -- appear with sufficiently complex visual construction. Colors are satisfactorily even and true, whether those same natural greens or a bright red truck. Muddy terrain, wooden gun stocks, and other earthy hues are presented to satisfaction. Black levels often look a little out of touch with reality, coming up pale and gray rather than deep and natural. Flesh tones, however, appear accurate to life. The image shows no major or minor instances of banding, noise, blockiness, or other eyesores. Overall, this is a quality transfer from Millennium, even if it frequently looks flatter and smoother than would be ideal.

The World Made Straight Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The World Made Straight arrives on Blu-ray with a satisfactory Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The film features a good bit of light, airy atmospherics that help better define the Appalachian landscape, with rolling waters, light breezes, singing birds, and other natural effects playing with a good, stable presence around the entire stage. Manmade ambience around a fairgrounds and inside a restaurant are also nicely realized. An old Bluegrass tune enjoys fruitful clarity -- vocals and instruments alike -- and a nice, even, pleasing spacing. A few gunshots ring out with satisfactory weight as the primary heavy pieces. Dialogue is evenly delivered and enjoys natural center-front placement.

The World Made Straight Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All that's included are previews for The World Made Straight (1080p, 2:01), By the Gun (480i, 1:50), Automata (480i, 2:26), and 88 (480i, 1:37).

The World Made Straight Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a terrific movie lost in the uneven The World Made Straight. The film effectively embraces simplicity and a slow-boil approach but never quite seems to enjoy the sort of dramatic payoff one would expect of material so otherwise tightly woven into the very fabric of both the characters and their surroundings. The film further seems cluttered by the important-not-importnant Civil War backdrop that facilitates ideas yet seems only to cloud, rather than clear, the air. Still, the movie is well made and otherwise satisfying, thanks to its gorgeous photography and settled, believable characters who blend right into their rugged environment. Millennium Entertainment's Blu-ray release of The World Made Straight features solid video and audio. Sadly, supplements are limited to a trailer. Definitely worth a rental.