Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Unstrung Heroes Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson July 7, 2019

By 1995, Diane Keaton had already directed episodes from such high-profile TV shows as China Beach (1990) and Twin Peaks (1991), the telefilm Wildflower, as well as the feature documentaries What Does Dorrie Want? (1982) and Heaven (1987). However, she had never been offered to direct a movie for the big screen until producers Susan Arnold and Donna Roth bought the rights to Franz Lidz's 1991 autobiographical book, Unstrung Heroes, and thought that Keaton would be a good fit for the material. Keaton landed the job in large part for her long acting career and her acumen for understanding social behavior in familial contexts. She also learned from one of her masters, Woody Allen, that a director should take a more restrained approach with actors and not use too many takes. (When a director first gets what s/he wants, print that take!)

Keaton was particularly well-suited to gauge the idiosyncratic behavior of the Lidzs, a family of four who live in a middle-class suburban neighborhood in Los An­geles around 1962. The film is narrated by 12-year-old Steven Lidz (Nathan Watt), a bright adolescent whose upbringing is shaped by his eccentric inventor-father, Sid (John Turturro). Steven enjoys teasing his 6-year-old sister, Sandy (Kendra Krull), but his "play" is mainly relegated to observing the results of his dad's latest contraptions. One evening his mother, Selma (Andie MacDowell), falls from her chair and is taken to a hospital for extended observation. When Sid hosts a welcome home gathering of family and friends to mark his wife's return, we're introduced to two of his loony brothers: the obese and endearing Arthur (Maury Chaykin) and the slimmer Danny (Michael Richards; Kramer from Seinfeld), a practical jokester. When Selma's illness returns, Steven moves in with his two uncles. At their transient apartment, he notices rooms packed from floor to ceiling with news­papers, rubber balls, wedding cake decorations, and other accoutrements. Arthur and Danny open up a world for Steven that he didn't get to see back home.

We have a planetarium in our kitchen.

Unstrung Heroes is an oddball black comedy that gets better as it moves along. It reminded me of some of Neil Simon's plays and their film adaptations. Though the Lidzs' have Jewish roots, Steven's parents are atheist but after the boy moves in with his uncles, he gets properly bar mitzvahed. Keaton and her screenwriter, Richard LaGravenese (The Fisher Key; The Bridges of Madison County) deserve plaudits for showing the son's social development from an out-of-place candidate at a student body president competition in the seventh grade to a more mature, well-rounded pre-teen. Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael's (Cool Runnings) nostalgic colors delight the eyes and composer Thomas Newman's quirky, whimsical score warms the senses.

Franz Lidz was supposedly unhappy with how his book was transformed to the screen. "I never imagined that my life would go on screen and be turned into Old Yeller," he quipped to Carrie Rickey. The movie mollified the emotional turmoil Franz felt as he watched his mother struggle with ovarian cancer. LaGravenese also reduced the number of Steven's uncles from four to two. (Indeed, the book is subtitled My Improbable Life with Four Impossible Uncles.) Franz Litz was barred from issuing negative statements about the movie as part of a contractual agreement with Disney’s Hollywood Pictures.

Unstrung Heroes was very well-received by the critical mass. The Orlando (FL) Sentinel's Jay Boyar hailed it "an instant classic, Unstrung Heroes is conceived in the tradi­tion of such superb coming-of-age movies as The Black Stallion and E.T." Eleanor Ringel (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and John Petrakis (Chicago Tribune) named it one of the best films of 1995. I wouldn't rate it as highly because I believe it could have been more dramatically satisfying but Keaton surprised me in that she didn't sugarcoat the material or let the tone become overly sentimental.

Unstrung Heroes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Unstrung Heroes was first released on Blu-ray in 2012 by Mill Creek Entertainment as part of a double feature with A Simple Twist of Fate. I don't have any reason to believe that this isn't the same print as used seven years ago. Kino Lorber has given the main feature an MPEG-4 AVC encode on a BD-25 which averages a video bitrate of 26246 kbps. Appearing in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the transfer noticeably derives from a dated master. There are speckles and dots that materialize in the frame fairly often as well as some light scratches that flash very briefly. The biggest difference between this transfer and the 2003 DVD has to be in the image density and delineation of hues. Green, brown, and yellow pop out especially. The palette is consistent with the theatrical release prints. Fred Haesker of the Calgary Herald describes Garreth Stover's production design as "ag­gressively stylized — the look is not naturalistic early '60s but memory's early '60s, tinted in golden yellow and browns." Terry Lawson of the Dayton (OH) Daily News likewise praises the "slightly askew, golden-rimmed cinematography." Jeffrey Westhoff of the Northwest Herald (IL) surmises that the film was shot or set in the fall: "the yellow and bronze color scheme seems autumnal." The opening main titles are photographed in black and white so tramlines and film artifacts are intentional (see Screenshot #20).

The 93-minute feature receives the usual eight chapter markers from Kino.

Unstrung Heroes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kino has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1557 kbps, 16-bit). This is a pretty subdued track but dialogue remains audible and intelligible. There really aren't any notable sound effects that stand out as sound design relies primarily on spoken words and music. Newman received his third Oscar nomination for a New Age score that has largely defined his distinctive style. He incorporates an array of unconventional instruments such as the zither, vibraphone, bowed bass dulcimer, Indian banjo, and pedal steel guitars. The cues "Trace Harm", "Main Title (A Load of Lidz)", and "Home Movies" are the highlights on the Hollywood Records album. On this uncompressed audio mix, they sound warm and lithe, moving gracefully across the center and front channels.

The English-language sound track is accompanied by optional English SDH.

Unstrung Heroes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• NEW Interview with Star Andie MacDowell (7:14, 1080p) - a new interview with MacDowell, who recalls working with Keaton and the production of Unstrung Heroes. In English, not subtitled.

• Theatrical Trailer - Buena Vista/Disney's original trailer for Unstrung Heroes.

• Previews - trailers for Kino's other catalog titles.

Unstrung Heroes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Unstrung Heroes's offbeat and winsome tone grew on me after the film got off to a leisurely beginning. The script is a bit uneven at times but the wonderful cinematography and score kept it engaging and watchable. If you already own Mill Creek's release from seven years ago, you may want to wait for a more comprehensive edition. Although Kino classifies this as a "Special Edition," it only contains one relatively brief interview with Andie MacDowell. Video and audio presentations are solid but undistinguished in comparison to other Hollywood indies from the '90s that have been remastered for Blu-ray. A MODEST RECOMMENDATION for this budget edition of Unstrung Heroes.