Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

***

 

 

The Film:

''NOW it's time for the gratuitous nudity.''

That line, uttered in the back seat of a limousine as a prelude to the use by a hustler of a stereotypical Arab's money to induce three young women to take off their clothes, serves adequately to reveal the quality of writing and level of aspirations of the dreary midwinter movie ''My Chauffeur,'' playing at the UA Twin and other theaters.

Despite the presence of such performers as E. G. Marshall and Sean McClory and the comedy team of Penn (the hustler) and Teller (the Arab), ''My Chauffeur'' remains a victim of low literacy, muddled characterizations, frequently rudimentary acting and unrealized yearnings toward humor.

Casey Meadows (Deborah Foreman) is a fast-talking, goofy, rebellious young woman who receives a mysterious note from millionaire Witherspoon (E.G. Marshall) informing her that she's been hired as a chauffeur for his limousine company. She is given a cool reception by her stuffy new boss, McBride (Howard Hesseman). Only O'Brien (Sean McClory), Witherspoon's chauffeur, treats her kindly. In an effort to make her quit, McBride assigns Casey to their most difficult clients. But eventually she is assigned to chauffeur Battle (Sam J. Jones), the uptight and overworked son of Witherspoon. There is so much to like about MY CHAUFFEUR that it makes the film's wrong-headedness that much more annoying. Foreman is terrific as the spunky young chauffeur. The handsome-but-uptight Jones is a perfect foil for her, and the pair sparkle in several scenes together. Marshall is, of course, the consummate professional, and the supporting cast leaves the viewer wanting more. Unfortunately, there are several pointless, gratuitously offensive digressions in the basically sweet plot line.

Excerpt from TVGuide located HERE

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

My Chauffeur comes to Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome described as "Newly scanned and restored in 2k from the 35mm original camera negative". It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. It looks just fine - probably a strong replication of its original presentation. Detail has some tightness, colors show richness and contrast appears moderately well-layered. There is some depth in the 1.85:1 frame. I'll bet it can't look much better or certainly won't look any better for digital home theatre consumption.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The film's audio is transferred in a DTS-HD Master mono track at 1753 kbps (24-bit). It sounds clean and faithful to its roots. The bouncy score is by Paul Hertzog (his first film composition, followed by a few, late 80s, martial arts flics) and is offered as an isolated option, in lossy Dolby. There are optional English subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras :

Vinegar Syndrome include some extras starting with two separate commentaries. The first has David Beaird (writer/director) & Leland Crooke (co-star) and the second has production assistant Jeff McKay. From what I sampled these were very light with some details of the shoot etc. There is also a 16-minute "License to Drive" interview with star Deborah Foreman - looking lovely and discussing her journey, through modeling, to film. Some may wish to access the, aforementioned, isolated soundtrack in lossy Dolby, there is an original theatrical trailer, promotional and behind the scenes stills gallery, and three T.V. Spots. The package has artwork by Derek Gabryszak and a reversible cover.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
My Chauffeur is pretty cute, but certainly no masterpiece. I'd say that it is superior to a lot of the mid 80's playful light romance/comedies of its time. It has nostalgic value as an obvious product of its time although, let's say, not at the top of E.G. Marshall's resume. The Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray is a far more complete package than the film deserves, but there is a cult following for these superior 80s titillating fare. Recommended to that niche! 

Gary Tooze

July 24th, 2017