Mortdecai (Blu-ray) (2014)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Caper	Featurette-Making Of-2
Rating
Year Of Production	2014
Running Time	106:40
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	David Koepp
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Johnny Depp Ewen McGregor Gwyneth Paltrow Paul Bettany
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Mark Ronson Geoff Zanelli

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Mortdecai is a very silly film. That is not a value judgement, instead it is a statement of fact. Your enjoyment or otherwise of this film will be driven by how much silly appeals to you. Personally, I had fun with this film despite its flaws, driven by my enjoyment of silliness. It is not the funniest film I have ever seen by a long shot, it is not a clever satire, it is not overly witty but there is enough silliness to make it an enjoyable watching experience. Critics hated this film but I think it has its merits and enjoyed watching it and will watch it again.

     Lord Charlie Mortdecai (Johnny Depp in very silly form indeed) is a British aristocrat who has fallen on hard times from a monetary perspective. He is an art dealer and foppish rogue who is trying to work out how to regain some portion of his fortune. When a Goya painting is stolen while being restored, Mortdecai realises there might be a chance to make some money. However, before he can get the painting for himself he is coerced into trying to retrieve the painting on behalf of MI5 by his old frenemy, Inspector Martland (Ewen McGregor, also hamming it up extravagantly). Martland has been lusting after Mortdecai's wife Joanna (Gwyneth Paltrow) for years. She on the other hand is annoyed with Mortdecai over his recent addition of a moustache, leading to an amusing running joke. Assisted by his loyal manservant and bodyguard, Jock (Paul Bettany), Mortdecai sets out to retrieve the painting, make some money for himself, get his wife back and avoid getting killed by any of the groups of criminals involved.

     This film was directed by David Koepp, probably best known as a screenwriter but who has directed a number of films to date. It is based on a series of books written by Kyril Bonfiglioli of which Depp is a big fan. As I mentioned above, this film is silly and should not be taken seriously. It is meant to be farcical, over the top and hammy. Depp and Koepp worked together before on Secret Window. It is bright and colourful from a cinematography perspective and the music adds to the ambiance of the film. It is fun, breezy and moves quickly. Relax and don’t think about it too deeply and there is fun and entertainment to be had here despite what the critics thought on theatrical release.

     Well worth a look if you enjoy something silly!

Video

     I was somewhat disappointed by this Blu-ray transfer. The foregrounds and faces are very sharp and detailed, however backgrounds lack definition and sometimes grain can be seen and some digital noise such as at 26:00. The bright colours come across well even a little too red at times although this may be an artistic choice rather than a transfer issue. Shadow detail was excellent. Technically it is 2.35:1 and 1080p.

     There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired. They were clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The main audio on this Blu-ray is a DTS HD-MA 5.1 track in English, plus an Audio Descriptive track in Dolby Digital 2.0. This is a high quality Blu-ray sound transfer which provides lots of surround ambiance and effects. The dialogue is generally good, although some lines are indistinct mostly due to silly accents. The music is cool, fun and whimsical, written by Mark Ronson and Geoff Zanelli. The surround speakers provide lots of music, action scene support, explosions, racing cars and more. The subwoofer is well used supporting the music and explosions etc.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     The extras are fairly minor.

Menu

     The menu included music.

Stolen Moments (16:34)

     A quite good making of featurette which covers the book, characters, interviews with the main cast members, on set footage and some background on shotting specific sequences.

The Art of Noise (12:25)

     A featurette on the making of the music, how the two composers worked together and the thinking that went into how they supported the action with music. Not bad.

    The US Region A Blu-ray adds some trailers and a DTS HD MA 7.1 soundtrack giving it a small win.

    The video quality is disappointing for Blu-ray.

    The audio quality is excellent.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall