Traveller / Telling Lies in America Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Traveller / Telling Lies in America Blu-ray Movie Review

Two for the price of one.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 18, 2012

Shout! Factory's double-bill Blu-ray release of Traveller and Telling Lies in America is themed around the classic coming-of-age story, one the tale of a young man who's recently lost his father and faces the challenges of the petty criminal life on the road, the other the story of a young man growing up before his time in 1960s Cleveland. The movies are two of the under-the-radar sorts, neither prominent back catalogue titles but both fine little pictures in their own right. The video and audio transfers leave something to be desired, but given the low asking price and the quality of the films included, this is a priced-to-sell release that movie fans will want to buy.

Travelling.

Traveller Rating: 3.5/5

"Bokky" (Bill Paxton, Vertical Limit) is a member of a hierarchical drifter society that sustains itself largely through lucrative scams, sometimes as simple as offering a "service" at a "discount price" and sometimes as complex as selling counterfeit bills for a percentage return in legit greenbacks. When a one-time insider-turned-outsider known as "Short Legs" passes away, his son Pat (Mark Wahlberg, The Other Guys) brings him home for burial. Pat's father told him all about the roving rip-off artists, and Pat wants in. But since he's not a pure-blood member of the clan, he crashes into a brick-wall of insider opposition. But Bokky's willing to take young Pat under his wing. Pat quickly learns that the life of the con artist isn't an easy one. The naive new member-in-training botches his first operation, but things take a turn for the better when he and Bokky pull a fast one on sexy barkeep Jean (Julianna Margulies, Ghost Ship) that ends up costing her her job. That doesn't stop she and Bokky from forming a physical relationship, but little does she know that her new man and his young apprentice are working on a major score that could put them all in harm's way.

Director Jack N. Green's Traveller doesn't stand apart from the crowd, but in a way that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a competent little feature that assembles a quality cast, tells an interesting story, and develops well-rounded characters in whom the audience becomes emotionally involved even as they con their way towards a living. Characterization seems almost foreign in so many movies these days, and while those in Traveller aren't startlingly authentic or even amongst the best Hollywood's ever produced, it's refreshing to find some genuine on-screen personas that are more than merely humanoid forms meant to advance a plot rather than shape it. The story moves efficiently and competently, and the film's progression from lighthearted open to terrifyingly gripping end is sold by lead performances that are defined by actors who inhabit the parts, give off the feeling that they've been doing what they do for years but evolve as the dynamics change during the course of the story. Traveller is an unassuming little quality picture that succeeds beyond expectations and surpasses many of the bigger kids on the celluloid block due in large part to a steady cadence and adherence to plot and character development above cinema razzle dazzle.

Telling Lies in America Rating: 4/5

Smooth-talking ladies man disc jockey Billy Magic (Kevin Bacon, Stir of Echoes) is back in Cleveland, again behind the mic at the popular WHK Radio, spinning records, wooing ladies, and looking for his next naive high school-aged apprentice to funnel money into his pocket. Karchy Jonas (Brad Renfro, Apt Pupil) is a teenaged Hungarian immigrant, struggling to make it through Catholic school, making life for himself and his father Istvan (Maximilian Schell, Cross of Iron) more difficult than it needs to be, particularly seeing that they're both trying to earn American citizenship. Young Mr. Jonas is also a fan -- a big fan, an obsessed fan -- of WHK. He's not so much into the music as he is the allure of and lifestyle led by Mr. Magic. He admires the confidence; the attention; the larger-than-life, universally-loved persona. He wants the money and the fame and the women wouldn't be bad, but the only girl he truly wants is marketplace co-worker Diney Majeski (Calista Flockhart, "Ally McBeal"), a somewhat distant but goodhearted and good-looking gal who seems more interested in pushing Karchy to success than accompanying him on a date.

Karchy forges his way into winning Magic's High School Hall of Fame contest. Suddenly, he finds himself inside the inner-circle of popularity and success -- Diney even agrees to date him -- working beside Magic as a go-between and earning $100 per week, sometimes more, and starting to believe that, just maybe, he can one day too sit behind the WHK microphone, so long as he can retrain his tongue to correctly speak the word "the." But reality begins to catch up with young Mr. Jonas. He learns that being someone else threatens who he is and uses up the last little bit of hope the real Karchy once had. The young mane comes to see that the dream isn't better than reality, that getting on top doesn't mean staying on the up-and-up, and that his hero has a long way to fall back towards the realities of life.

Telling Lies on America borders on being a coming-of-age classic. The movie isn't quite as dramatically tight as it might should be, and the flow ranges from the hare to the tortoise, but the picture delivers a sustainable plot arc, wonderful characters, and a deceptively big heart. It succeeds within the confines of an engaging narrative, drawing a collection of wonderful characters -- the big-eyed dreamer, the superficial success, the pragmatist, the supportive father -- who are shaped by a quartet of remarkable performances. But Telling Lies in America is so much more than the work of the cast. The picture oozes a sense of genuine authenticity not only in time and place but in its ability to depict real emotions, real people, real wants, real hurts. It's a wonderfully round picture in a sea of flat nothings, defined by nuance and real, heartfelt character arcs. Brad Renfro dazzles as the boy who longs to be a man, rushes into a world for which he's unprepared, and discovers that it's not the destination but the journey that comes to define a life.

Traveller / Telling Lies in America Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Traveller Rating: 2/5

Traveller's Blu-ray transfer leaves quite a bit to be desired; the image has been sourced from a worn and weary element that's seen better days. While light grain retention and generally satisfying details and colors are evident throughout -- the image holds firm in the basic elements, no doubt about that -- it's the ancillary stuff that keeps this one from a higher score. Indeed, facial lines and clothing textures -- brighter clothes, anyway, the darker ones show no detail whatsoever -- look fine, and general odds and ends around the screen appear with a nice, crisp, film-like appearance. Colors are even and accurate in a general sense; natural greens, a red F-150 pickup truck, and other general shades fare well, but black crush is evident in darker scenes, flesh tones often favor a reddish tinge, and other scattered elements struggle to find accurate balance. As for the source, it's dotted by a fairly constant, but not overwhelming, field of spots and speckles. Blue and black globs hover around the top and bottom left-hand corners throughout much of the film. This one definitely appears to have been transferred to Blu-ray from any old ("old" being the operative word) element laying around the vault. It benefits in terms of stability, crispness, and finer detailing from the boost in resolution, but there's no question that Traveller could look quite a bit better than this.

Telling Lies in America Rating: 2/5

Shout! Factory's uneven Blu-ray transfer of Telling Lies in America yields results largely reasonable for a relatively low-cost double feature release. At-a-glance, the image features acceptable detailing and fair stability. Light grain remains, and many scenes offer positive definition across many surfaces and objects, such as the wooden confessional booth as seen in chapter nine, odds and ends in the WHK broadcasting booth, and facial and clothing textures in general scenes. Darker scenes suffer through overwhelming blacks, pasty details, minimal definition, and heavily blocked backgrounds, for instance a red-drenched bar scene in chapters six and nine. Colors never sparkle, but brighter scenes offer stable, sturdy hues. Additionally, the image suffers through bouts of wobbliness, speckling, edge halos, banding, a few soft focus shots, and stray vertical lines. This transfer won't dazzle, but audiences should find it passably acceptable.

Traveller / Telling Lies in America Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Traveller Rating: 2.5/5

Traveller's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack doesn't fare much better than its video counterpart. Shout! Factory's audio presentation offers an evident steadiness in all areas, but greatness in none. The opening Randy Travis tune plays with a good, clear, stable, toe-tapping tenor. General sound effects work in a basic context, whether the slight rumble of a pickup truck rambling down the road as heard from within its cab or the slow ca-chug, ca-chug of a train idling down the tracks. Light ambience satisfies across the front, but a few gun blasts capture only a basic sonic signature. Dialogue is generally even and clear, but a few scenes suffer through some slight sync issues, a nighttime encounter between Pat and Kate being the best example. This track won't dazzle the ears or test the limits of the sound system, but it's an adequately efficient presentation.

Telling Lies in America Rating: 2.5/5

Like Traveller, Telling Lies in America arrives on Blu-ray with a no-frills DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. The track never falls victim to any obvious defects, but neither does it excel in any category. Music, whether through the radio or performed live, enjoys a fine, vigorous presentation, nice clarity, and a room-filling presence. There's fine background ambience throughout, including out on the streets, within the market where Karchy and Diney work, or nighttime crickets heard both out on the street and inside the Jonas house. Dialogue comes through the center, efficiently and with no loss of clarity at any point. This track doesn't impress, nor does it depress. It's a fair presentation that performs the basic requirements of a listenable track.

Traveller / Telling Lies in America Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are included.

Traveller / Telling Lies in America Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shout! Factory doesn't really have a winner on its hands with this double-bill release of Traveller and Telling Lies in America. The truth is that the Blu-ray presentations fails to impress in any area; both movies arrive featureless and showcase borderline abysmal video and merely passable audio. But the bright spot is where every Blu-ray release matters the most, and that's in the quality of the movies. These are two must-see pictures that, chances are, even many cinephiles have probably allowed to slip under the radar. Both tell captivating tales, each is well-made, and the two both feature quality acting shaping strong character rosters. Even though the Blu-ray quality isn't great -- and it's difficult to suggest rewarding shoddy workmanship -- this release comes recommended based on the strength of the films and, to a lesser extent, the low asking price.