Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God… Be Back by Five Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 11, 2018

Jon Cryer’s tenure as the putative adult in the room in Two and a Half Men elevated his stature to a degree that even his long pre-existing credits hadn’t been able to, perhaps at least in part to the comparison industry types and the viewing public at large drew between his professionalism and the perceived “bad boy” behavior of co-star Charlie Sheen. Even fans of Cryer’s work in this particular sitcom, not to mention other big and small screen efforts like The Famous Teddy Z or Pretty in Pink may not realize that Cryer actually has two feature film screenplays to his credit (as co-writer with director Richard Schenkman in both instances), 1995’s The Pompatus Of Love and 1998’s Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God. . .Be Back by Five. Both of these films certainly offer unusual titles, but the film currently under consideration frankly struggles a bit to maintain a sense of innovation in its tale of two nearly lifelong buddies who set out on a quest to find a long lost third friend.

Cryer and Schenkman offer an obviously heartfelt introduction to the film on a supplement available on this Blu-ray, discussing how it was a “personal statement” from both of them and how important both of them feel the film has been in their lives. Unfortunately that commendable sincerity doesn’t necessarily translate to a completely effective film viewing experience, though there are a number of well done elements scattered through this rather odd at times “journey” for two guys named Daniel (played by Jon Cryer as an adult, Timmy Reifsnyder as a little boy) and Stan (Rick Stear as an adult, Brandon Espinoza as a kid). Daniel’s narration knits together a vignette driven enterprise that sees the story ping ponging among several different eras, supposedly with an intent to cast new, “meaningful” light on things, but often simply ending up offering “what year is it now?” questions from an audience trying to glean clues from hairstyles and/or references to things like the rock band Loverboy.

The film’s opening sequence documenting the first meeting of Daniel and Stan as kids is kind of goofily sweet, quickly eliding the fact that Stan has a birth defect (what used to be called “club foot”) and Daniel has a terminal case of being the bespectacled geek. The two eye each other from behind their mothers’ dresses, take a cautionary “punch” (more like a slap) at each other, then begin roughhousing as their moms chat about this and that. It’s sweet and effective, and the film is best when it attempts to deal with “smaller” items like this rather than when it attempts to tackle somewhat weightier items like the death of childhood dreams and even incipient mental illness (or at least emotional dysfunction).

Part of the problem with the story hopping to and fro from various timelines is evidenced by the fact that Daniel and Stan’s relationship with the “third wheel” of their childhood clique, Richie (Rafael Baez as an adult, Richard Acosta as a boy), is arguably not very well developed in the childhood sequences, which means that when he’s reported as mentally unbalanced and living as a homeless person, ostensibly on Coney Island, there’s not much of an emotional pull there to begin with. When Daniel and Stan set out to track down their erstwhile friend, the film then perhaps makes another error by having the two interact in a number of “detours” (so to speak) as a variety of extremely eccentric characters on Coney Island intersect with the duo.

While there are occasional laughs scattered throughout the film, stabs at deep emotion sometimes feel overly manipulative, as in a final denouement documenting a potential reason for Richie’s emotional breakdown. Suffice it to say it involves a personal tragedy revolving around a family member of Richie’s, but unfortunately Schenkman stages the disaster with such an overblown approach that some viewers may actually be laughing by the time it’s all over. Both Schenkman and Cryer mention how elements from both of their lives made it into their screenplay, and at times at least, Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God. . .Be Back by Five has the ring of authenticity about it. In that regard, though, in reading up on Cryer in preparation for this review, I have to say there’s an interesting connection between him and another recent release of a Schenkman film I reviewed, The Man from Earth: Holocene. That admittedly tangential connection made me wish wish it could have been worked into this film for some intentional comedic effect.

It turns out that Cryer’s grandfather was evidently a well known Methodist minister, and as a guy who spent over a decade of his life as a Music Director for a large Methodist congregation, I personally found one of the funniest lines in The Man from Earth: Holocene coming late in the film when an Evangelically minded student is attempting to come to terms with the fact that his Comparative Religions professor may have been alive for over 14,000 years and during his long sojourn on Earth was both Buddha and Jesus. The student keeps quoting scripture to the professor, and the professor keeps offering arguably more “nuanced” interpretations of the Holy Book. Schenkman provides what to me was one of the funniest punchlines I’ve heard recently when the kid suddenly erupts in fury, “Oh, great! Liberal theology! What — are we all supposed to be Methodists now?” Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God. . .Be Back by Five arguably could have used a bit more of this tartly intellectual kind of humor instead of some of the more shtick laden comedy and saccharine emotional elements it still only sporadically delivers.

Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God… Be Back by Five Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God. . .Be Back by Five is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual's MVD Rewind imprint (I had to wonder whether the creases in the slipcover for this release were done intentionally to recreate the "vintage" feel that is emphasized by the "Don't be Fined Please Rewind" and supposed sale stickers on the slipcover). Both the back cover and Schenkman in the introduction mention a "frame by frame digital restoration from original 35mm film elements" without specifying whether the source was in fact the negative or what resolution the scan was done at. With an understanding that this was a micro budgeted feature without a ton of production gloss, Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God. . .Be Back by Five looks largely great in high definition, with an accurate rendering of the palette for the most part, good detail levels and an organic looking grainfield. There are some transitory issues with minor wobble during the opening credits as well as some slight variations in warmth that are not necessarily tied to what I'm assuming were intentional differences in color temperature to set apart flashbacks from contemporary sequences. There's a slight blue undertone to some scenes that can tend to skew fleshtones to a somewhat unnatural hue, and some of the nighttime Coney Island scenes are considerably cooler looking than the rest of the film.

Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God… Be Back by Five Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God. . .Be Back by Five features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks. The film has quite a bit of source music utilized (including at least one song that looks like it was co-written by the ubiquitous Cryer), and that element tends to resonate more spaciously in the surround track. The surround track also provides a better accounting of the ambient environmental sounds in the many outdoor scenes. That said, this is a pretty talky feature, and as such the stereo track may well satisfy the casual listener. Fidelity is fine across the board, with no damage of any kind to report.

Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God… Be Back by Five Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Went to Coney Island. . .To Make a Movie Behind the Scenes Featurette (480i; 18:36) is a fun archival piece with some appealing interviews. The "man on the street" (boardwalk?) guy who starts this out by lamenting all the stuff on Coney Island that's been torn down is kind of amazing.


• The Producer (480i; 3:00) is a comedy short by Richard Schenkman about, well, a producer.


• Audio Commentary from Director Richard Schenkman and Jon Cryer is fun and chatty, though they both sound like they're on a speakerphone.


• Photo Gallery (1080p; 4:24)


• Introduction from Director Richard Schenkman and Jon Cryer (1080p; 2:14) is accessible under the Play menu option.

Additionally a folded poster is housed inside the keepcase.

Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God… Be Back by Five Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's quite a bit to like in Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God. . .Be Back by Five, but the entire film never really hangs together very well, and I personally just wasn't that moved by a late series of revelations and the little coda documenting a kinda sorta happy ending for at least some of the characters. Performances are fine all around (it's kind of fun to see some of the supporting players in this film, some of whom are well known now from other enterprises), and Schenkman keeps things moving briskly enough even if the bifurcated (trifurcated?) structure repeatedly puts up unnecessary obstacles. Technical merits are solid and the supplementary package enjoyable for those considering a purchase.