6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Caught fabricating part of an article in the New York Times Magazine, Michael Finkel is a disgraced journalist when he encounters and forms an uneasy bond with Christian Longo, a suspected murderer who claimed to be Finkel when arrested in Mexico.
Starring: Jonah Hill, James Franco, Felicity Jones, Maria Dizzia, Ethan SupleeCrime | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
There are two rather odd statistical anomalies that at least some of us raising kids in the Pacific Northwest have become aware of, one detailing a threat from within (so to speak), and the other referencing a external cause for alarm. For reasons which have never been scientifically determined, the Pacific Northwest has long had an outsized occurrence of spinal meningitis, to the point that there are virtually annual news stories of yet another set of parents who tragically thought their kids were just encountering a simple viral infection of some low order, only to have the child’s unbelievable death quickly follow. There are even occasional billboards that have been erected along the I-5 corridor attempting to educate parents to better recognize the symptoms of this deadly disease. Child mortality of another sort entirely is part of the second odd statistical spike, this one involving parents killing their kids, with many choosing the prevalence of bridges in this region as the location for their nefarious deeds. Even worse considering the generally peace inducing respite that being oceanside tends to grant most folks is the fact that an oddly high incidence of these horrible killings takes place at coastal settings. Just in the past couple of years there have been high profile cases dotting the Portland region’s news with various parents tossing their kids from bridges and/or shooting them at various coastal sites. It’s a truly disturbing statistic, one that found one of its most gruesome exemplars in Christian Longo, a man whose horrific crimes started to make first local and then national news right before Christmas in 2001.
True Story is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As co-writer and director Rupert Goold discusses in his commentary, aside from just a couple of digital shots, True Story was shot on film and the transfer here exhibits a nice if often fairly low key organic look, one which supports the often drab palette of the film. Settings under harsh fluorescent lighting in the prison interview sequences tend to slightly mask fine detail in midrange shots, though close-ups still offer good looks at elements like Longo's scraggly beard and mustache. Some shots seems intentionally soft looking, including some of the exterior shots as Finkel investigates the location of the crime (as an Oregonian I must say that the film's use of New York beachsides as a fill in for my state's are woefully misguided from a topographical perspective).
True Story's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix never really fully stretches its sonic wings, part of which can be attributed to the fact that a lot of the film plays as a so-called "two hander," with simple dialogue scenes between Longo and Finkel offering little in the way of "wow" factor. Occasional elements like some oceanside scenes manage to deliver discrete channelization for ambient environmental effects, but this is overall a fairly restrained presentation, one which does offer Marco Beltrami's score a full soundstage on which to reside. Fidelity remains excellent throughout, with dialogue well prioritized and delivered without any problems whatsoever.
- Mike Finkel (1080p; 3:33)
- Who is Christian Longo? (1080p; 3:56)
- The Truth Behind 'True Story' (1080p; 4:03)
- The Making of 'True Story' (1080p; 5:26)
The whole fall and winter of 2001 was a litany of bad news for many Americans, starting of course with the horrors of September 11, but then, for those of us in Portland anyway, made somehow more horrifying by the pre-Christmas discovery of a murdered family just dumped in the water off of Oregon's scenic coast. The Longo story dominated the local news here for a long time, and while the Finkel angle never received any undue attention, the entire saga of this preppy looking murderer was front page and lead story fare for months. True Story plays a little fast and loose with some facts, making its title a bit questionable, but one of the film's more daring gambits is trying to "humanize" Longo, at least in terms of his relationship with Finkel. The film never successfully coalesces its thesis that these two are somehow peas in a pod, but True Story still offers excellent opportunities for both Hill and Franco in roles far removed from some of their more whimsical comedic personae. Technical merits are generally strong and with caveats noted, True Story comes Recommended.
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