Altered
Minds (2013/Gravitas Ventures/EOne DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C Film: C
Michael
Z. Wechsler's Altered Minds (2013) is a isolated psychological
thriller starring legendary actor Judd Hirsch (Independence Day),
and some fresh faces in Ryan O'Nan, C.S. Lee, Caroline Lagerfelt,
Jaime Ray Newman, Joseph Lyle Taylor, Dennis Flanagan, Jake Miller,
and Lily Pilblad. For being a low budget film, the look and
production design aren't bad and the highlight is definitely Hirsch
who plays Dr. Nathaniel Shellner - who is both the hero and the
villain of the piece.
Dr.
Shellner has led an extraordinary life as a Nobel prize winning
psychiatrist. In his personal life, he adopted five children in
addition to one of his own and all of which had bizarre and unusual
upbringings. As Dr. Shellner lies on his death bed during a cold
winter in New Jersey, the family convenes at the house where the
Shellner and his wife raised the children for a final, bittersweet
farewell to someone thought by the public as a hero. As the family
gets in closer counters, the film exposes conflicts between each of
them, resulting in a film that at time feels more like a play than a
movie.
Presented
in standard definition with an anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of
2.35:1 and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track, the film looks and sounds
fine for the DVD format but could use a high def upgrade to help make
an even stronger presentation. Otherwise, this is fine for the
format.
Extras
include:
Deleted
Scenes
2
Audio Commentary Tracks
Director's
Video Logs
If
you're a fan of isolation pieces or psychological thrillers, then you
may enjoy this piece.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
