Feeling Blu about your significant other?
Connie and Ed Summer are on rocky ground. Their marriage is failing and it’s currently in a free-fall. One is waiting on the other to help catch it, but no one is willing to make the first move. The first move from Connie ends up being an affair with a man named Paul, whom she met while trying to hail a cab. Her innocent meeting soon turns into a dangerous love affair and spirals from there. When Ed finds out about it he doesn’t take it well. In fact, he uses all the pent up rage of the failed situation to take out the competition.
Unfaithful shines in moments. You get the moment where you realize that there is a lot of work that Connie and Ed have to do to repair their marriage. The presentation for that situation is frightfully well-done. You understand the separation that each has and how much of their love for each other is being lost thanks to this gaping hole of a relationship. The moment where Connie falls for the young, lusty Paul is also intense as you realize that all that pent up love has just burst at the seams. Paul is her outlet. The final moment is when Ed kills Paul (sorry to spoil) and you realize that the same pent up aggression that she had, he’s letting it out a slightly different way (okay, it’s completely opposite of how she did it). These are the moments. Now, the reason why I pinpoint them is to show you that these are the bread and butter of the film. Everything in-between is a bit sluggish. These moments are enormous in scale, emotionally riveting and horrifying on some level, but everything in-between is just sort of a long path to the next moment. Dramas should necessarily work like this, it should be consistent from beginning to end. I think this slows the movie down and probably detours most people from watching it. I think the subject matter might be consider taboo, but the emotion captured during these moments makes the situation real (we’ve all been in something similar, expect for the ‘murder’ part), which makes it believable for the audience.
With all of that said, I think that Unfaithful brings some strong elements to the table. The acting is superb, as Richard Gere and Diane Lane are the perfect dysfunctional couple. The heartbreak of loss feels powerful and the movie is shot very beautifully. It’s almost a shame that it was consistently lovely and flowing well. Regardless, if you’re looking for an intense drama, this might be the movie for you.
Insert your own Blu line here because it’s easy
Let me stress that the transfer from film to HD is a rough one sometimes, but the end result is typically pretty darn good. Unfaithful‘s transfer is fantastic, mainly because of how the movie was shot. There was a lot of concentration put into the cinematography that made the film have a lot of black/white contrasts. HD video loves black/white, in fact most sets completely concentrate their features around those two elements. What you get is very gorgeous video that makes you want to hug your Blu-ray player. On top of this, you get 5.1 DTS-HD audio delivered to you. Unnecessary for this film? Maybe, but you get it and it sounds great.
As for features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– Commentary by director Adrian Lyne
– Scene-specific commentary from the actors
– 11 deleted scenes with optional commentary
– The Charlie Rose Show: Interview with Richard Gere, Diane Lane and Adrian Lyne
– Behind-the-Scenes Featurette: An Affair to Remember
– Editing Featurette
– Cast Interviews
– Director’s Script Notes
I’m very impressed with these features. For a film that isn’t for everyone in the mainstream audience, they certainly put in some impressive features. The featurettes are out of this world interesting, especially the editing featurette. The deleted scenes are decent and the commentary and insight from actors and director is enjoyable.