Lies & Illusions (2008/Anchor Bay Blu-ray + DVD)
Picture: B-/C
Sound: B-/C+ Extras: C- Film: C-
Two actors who seemed as if they would always have
consistent careers have found themselves at a crossroads. Christian Slater did Jack Nicholson one too
many times and one too many goofy films, while Cuba Gooding, Jr. even won an
Academy Award, but has since picked some of the worst scripts possible when he
is better than that. Despite the fact
that Tibor Takacs’ Lies & illusions
(2008) collapses early on, a better script could have saved it and made this
the best work either has done in a while.
Slater is a writer who is happy and has much to be happy
about, but his wife is kidnapped and may be killed unless he takes action to
stop that. However, he is being
manipulated by a sick, slick criminal (Gooding, Jr.) and a money scheme is part
of the craziness. Unfortunately, the
Eric James script is undeveloped and just coasts after it falls apart, becoming
a missed opportunity that gets worse and worse.
I could see this working in some way, but the makers have
no idea how to pull this off, leaving the actors trying to save it with little
to do. Too bad, because when the leads
apply themselves, they are not bad.
Hopefully, this will inspire them to try again.
The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image is made
to look gritty, but is soft and weak on the Blu-ray, with poor Video Black,
which is especially bad on the anamorphically enhanced DVD. We even get some very degraded images that
are shockingly bad on the DVD. The PCM
5.1 mix on the Blu-ray is better than the Dolby Digital 5.1 offering in both
formats by being richer and a more solid performer overall, but dialogue
recording is flat and surrounds are limited.
There is also some compression throughout. The only extra is a making-of featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
