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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Stephen Frears
USA 1990

 

A dark-hearted neonoir comes to a boil under the bright Los Angeles sun, in British director Stephen Frears’s rousing adaptation of the novel by dime-store bard Jim Thompson, a film that raises pulp to the realm of existential tragedy. A possessive mother (Anjelica Huston), her cynical son (John Cusack), and his scheming, seductive girlfriend (Annette Bening) are career swindlers circling one another in an elaborate emotional confidence game that grows increasingly perverse as love and trust turn to betrayal and Oedipal undercurrents rise to the surface. In Frears’s first film made in Hollywood, the ever-assured director and his trifecta of magnetic actors conjure a moody, unstuck-in-time vision of toxic Americana.

***

Director Stephen Frears' tense adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel The Grifters was one of a number of revival film noirs in the first half of the '90s. Updating the setting to contemporary Los Angeles, the film follows a trio of con artists who are intent on out-foxing each other. Roy Dillon (John Cusack) is a simple, two-bit con, whose life is thrown into turmoil when his estranged mother Lilly (Anjelica Huston) returns home in an attempt to evade the law. Lilly doesn't warm to Roy's girlfriend Myra Langtry (Annette Bening), who is too similar to herself. Soon, the two women are competing for Roy in a battle that is more of a power struggle than a pursuit of affection, and the battle quickly turns dangerous. Huston was nominated for an Academy Award for her work.

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 14th, 1990 (Toronto International Film Festival)

Reviews                           More Reviews                    DVD Reviews

 

Review: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray / Region FREE - 4K UHD

Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

  

Also available on 4K UHD which includes this Blu-ray

  

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Criterion Spine #1246 - Region FREE - 4K UHD - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:50:43.887        
Video

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 47,422,162,138 bytes

Feature: 33,355,216,896 bytes

Video Bitrate: 35.92 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1999 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1999 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -31dB

Subtitles English (SDH), None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Criterion

 

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 47,422,162,138 bytes

Feature: 33,355,216,896 bytes

Video Bitrate: 35.92 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

4K UHD

The film in 2160P resolution

Blu-ray

• Audio commentary featuring director Stephen Frears, actors John Cusack and Anjelica Huston, and screenwriter Donald E. Westlake
• New interview with actor Annette Bening (20:04)
• Short making-of documentary featuring Cusack, Frears, Huston, Westlake, and production designer Dennis Gassner (16:26)
• Seduction, Betrayal, Murder: The Making of “The Grifters,” featuring interviews with Frears, Stapleton, editor Mick Audsley, executive producer Barbara De Fina, and coproducer Peggy Rajski (1:14:41)
• The Jim Thompson Story, featuring Westlake and Robert Polito, biographer of The Grifters novelist Jim Thompson (8:01)
• Trailer (1:47)
PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien


Blu-ray / 4K UHD Release Date: January 21st, 2025

Transparent  Case

Chapters 22

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (January 2025): Criterion have transferred Stephen Frears' The Grifters to 4K UHD and Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New 4K digital restoration, approved by director of photography Oliver Stapleton". The Criterion 4K UHD package has one 4K UHD disc of the film and this Blu-ray (which is also available separately) with the film and special features. While we are in possession of the 4K UHD disc we cannot resolve the encode yet and therefore cannot obtain screen captures. We hope to add to this review when possible. So, the below captures are from Criterion's 2025 1080P Blu-ray transfer.

We compared four Blu-rays HERE; the 2009 Optimum, the 2013 Miramax, the 2015 Lions Gate and the 2018 101 Films.... and to the 2025 Criterion below. As you can see it is decidedly darker... to the point of removing details that get lost in the blackness. It is quite rich and heavy almost to the point of saturation, it has flesh tones cool, and the darker appearance works although some daylit sequences appear too overcast. Colors embolden (see the $10 bill capture), textures are more apparent and I think I like this new look. I'll know in my next few viewings. The 4K UHD appearance is similar exemplifying the style and darker tone of the film.  

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a DTS-HD Master stereo track (24-bit) in the original English language. The Grifters has aggressive moments (gun shots, cigar burning, threats of the oranges, Myra's 'Cackle-bladder' etc.) that come through with effective depth and aplomb. The rhythmic score was by Elmer Bernstein (The Tin Star, The Shootist The Great Escape, See No Evil, Sudden Fear, From the Terrace, The Hallelujah Trail, The Grifters, Robot Monster, Devil in a Blue Dress, Saturn 3, Birdman of Alcatraz, Love With the Proper Stranger, The Bride at Remagen, The Comancheros, The World of Henry Orient, Kings of the Sun, Hud, To Kill a Mockingbird, Summer and Smoke) and it adds to the 'build' via the lossless transfer. Criterion offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray and Region FREE 4K UHD.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers the valuable 2013 audio commentary, also found on the MiraMax (but not the later Lionsgate) Blu-ray, featuring director Stephen Frears, actors John Cusack and Anjelica Huston, and screenwriter Donald E. Westlake who relates a story regarding one of his pseudonyms "Richard Stark" used as a flashback in the film as a partner in the law firm in the scene where Langtry (Bening) is describing her 'long con':

 

There is also a new 20-minute interview with actor Annette Bening discussing her memories of the production and her role as Myra Langtry. Seduction, Betrayal, Murder: The Making of “The Grifters,” runs 1 1/4 hours from 2018 and was on the 101 Films (UK) Blu-ray. It features director Stephen Frears, cinematographer Oliver Stapleton (The Cider House Rules, Earth Girls Are Easy, Fears's My Beautiful Laundrette,) editor Mick Audsley, executive producer Barbara De Fina, and co-producer Peggy Rajski. Included is a 15-minute 'Making of" produced in 2013. This featurette includes interviews with director Frears, screenwriter Westlake, actors Huston and Cusack, as well as production designer Dennis Gassner (Road to Perdition, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Hudsucker Proxy.) The Jim Thompson Story is from 2013 and runs 8-minutes. It is a featurette about Jim Thompson, author of the source novel The Grifters, which includes interviews with screenwriter Donald E. Westlake and Thompson biographer Robert Polito (Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson.) Lastly, is a trailer and the package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien (Crime Novels of the 1960s: Nine Classic Thrillers.)

Stephen Frears's The Grifters is premium neonoir with stellar, and lauded, performances and a deep, dark story. John Cusack's character of Roy Dillon is conflicted - distrusting the women in his life; his mother Lilly (Anjelica Huston) and girlfriend Myra Langtry (Annette Bening.) They too are 'Grifters' like him. The lessons he learned as an apprentice is to never be 'the mark'. His distrust of Lilly and Myra are an extension of his fear of being 'conned' and it keeps him 'small time'. He is uninterested, or incapable, of embracing the 'long con' as it would require him to trust a fellow Grifter. He never smiles and seems to engender a form of self-loathing - addicted to the chances he takes. He is drawn to his chosen profession for its control and freedom - being leader of the confidence game. "If you don't know who the sucker in the room is - it's you". Remarkably, film preservationist Robert A. Harris (Lawrence of Arabia, Vertigo, Rear Window, and My Fair Lady) was a producer on The Grifters. I've watched the film probably more than a dozen times over the years. The Criterion's 'fresh' look via their Blu-ray and 4K UHD plus the extras make this highly desirable. One of the best of the neonoir genre. I consider it a 'must-own'.

Gary Tooze

 


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1) Miramax/Lions Gate - Region 'A' -  Blu-ray - TOP

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1) 101 Films - Region 'B' -  Blu-ray - TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Optimum - Region 'B' -  Blu-ray - TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Miramax/Lions Gate - Region 'A' -  Blu-ray - TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) 101 Films - Region 'B' -  Blu-ray - TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Optimum - Region 'B' -  Blu-ray - TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


 

More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

 

 

 
Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

  

Also available on 4K UHD which includes this Blu-ray

  

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Criterion Spine #1246 - Region FREE - 4K UHD - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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