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Flawless [Blu-ray]
(Joel Schumacher, 1999)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Tribeca Productions Video: Olive Films
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:50:48.642 Disc Size: 24,226,384,804 bytes Feature Size: 23,572,187,136 bytes Video Bitrate: 22.99 Mbps Chapters: 8 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: May 19th, 2015
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 3868 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3868 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles: • None
Extras: • Trailer (2:29)
Bitrate:
Description: Can a homophobic former rent-a-cop find happiness learning to sing with a man in a dress? That's the big question in this comedy-drama. A retired security guard Robert De Niro, deeply conservative and set in his ways, falls victim to a debilitating stroke. His doctors prescribe an extensive program of physical therapy once he's released from the hospital, including singing lessons to help him regain his full powers of speech. As it turns out, there's a vocal instructor living next door to the guard, so he signs up only to discover that his new teacher is a flamboyant drag queen awaiting a sex-change operation Philip Seymour Hoffman. Written and directed by Joel Schumacher, Flawless also stars Wilson Jermaine Heredia and Daphne Rubin-Vega, both of whom first gained notice in the Broadway musical Rent, as well as Rory Cochran and Barry Miller.
The Film: Robert De Niro plays Walt Koontz, a homophobic guy who ends up with paralyzed vocal cords because of an unfortunate stroke. His therapy includes receiving singing lessons from a neighbor (played by Phillip S. Hoffman) who is not only openly flamboyant but also a pre-op transgenderist. Both of them are equally prejudiced; De Niro against homosexuals and the neighbor against close-minded straight people. Excerpt from TCM located HERE
For what it's worth, this could be Schumacher's best film. There's no stylised-to-oblivion cartoon sensationalism, none of the knee-jerk politics of Falling Down; just two lonely men in a big bad city (New York, natch), and a couple of involved performances from De Niro and Hoffman, one bearing a speech impediment, the other wearing a dress. The story's an opposites-repel number, a chaste male love story charting the reluctant meeting of minds of homophobic cop Walt and ballsy drag diva Rusty, tenement-block neighbours who spend their spare time squabbling across the courtyard that separates them. An uninvolving mob-loot plot, which mostly keeps itself in the background, intercedes to leave the policeman crippled by a stroke. Too ashamed to seek help from his friends, he grudgingly shuffles upstairs and supplicates Rusty for singing lessons by way of therapy. A palatably mainstream critique of pride, prejudice and identity barriers, it's unexceptional material; indeed, it might seem drab were it not for the leads. De Niro pulls out a couple of stops, and Hoffman has a ball. Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Flawless has a, typical, modest Blu-ray transfer from Olive Films. This is only single-layered with a decent bitrate. It looks fine but doesn't scale the lofty heights of the new format. Colors are bright and detail pleasing in the film's few close-ups. I think the film's visuals lean to the less remarkable and the 1080P doesn't have a lot to impress with. They are plenty of very dark scnes but no noise that I could discern. The Blu-ray improved the presentation over an SD rendering but it is not something that will blow you away with the video presentation but I would also say it had no flaws - yes 'flawless' (no pun intended.)
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :Olive add a very robust audio transfer - a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround at a whopping 3868 kbps. The effects are less noticeable than the rich depth of the musical numbers; a score by Bruce Roberts and performances of Lady Marmalade, Nashom Benjamin singing Half Breed, Ashley's Song and Tasha's Song written by Joel Schumacher, Bruce Roberts & Rory Cochrane and you can hear Taylor Dayne performing Planet Love. All sounding surprisingly strong in the lossless rendering. There are no subtitles and m y Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.
Extras : No supplements aside from a trailer which is the bare-bones route that Olive are going with most of their releases.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze May 14th, 2015
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
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