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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Criminal (2004)

Criminal (2004)

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Released 3-Aug-2005

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Audio
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2004
Running Time 83:39 (Case: 87)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4,5 Directed By Gregory Jacobs
Studio
Distributor

Warner Home Video
Starring John C. Reilly
Diego Luna
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Peter Mullan
Zitto Kazann
Jonathan Tucker
Laura Cerón
Soledad St. Hilaire
Ellen Geer
Brandon Keener
Nick Anavio
Deborah Van Valkenburgh
Maeve Quinlan
Case ?
RPI $24.95 Music Alex Wurman


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
Hebrew
Arabic
English for the Hearing Impaired
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    This film is an American remake of a successful Argentinean film from 2000, Nine Queens. Before you rush to judgement and decide it is therefore probably crap, give it a chance because this film is worthwhile in its own right. I have not seen the original film, however, my wife has and she tells me the plot is quite similar.

    The film follows a day in the life of an amoral conman, Richard Gaddis (John C. Reilly), as he recruits a new partner, Rodrigo (Diego Luna) and stumbles across a scam that, if he can pull it off, will land him a large quantity of money. As he is training his new recruit he gets a call from his sister, Valerie (Maggie Gyllenhaal), telling him that one of his associates, Ochoa is making a nuisance of himself in her hotel. She works as a concierge in a large downtown hotel. She tells him to come down to the hotel and sort it out as the guy is asking for him. Upon arrival he finds that Ochoa has a counterfeit collector's currency bill, which is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to the right collector. He agrees to try to sell the fake currency and take a large proportion of the profit for himself. To tell you any more would spoil the multiple twists in the plot.

    This version was produced by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh (who is also one of the screenwriters under a pseudonym) and was made on a fairly small budget by Gregory Jacobs, taking the director's chair for the first time. I enjoyed this film, possibly more because I have not seen Nine Queens, finding it entertaining, intellectually stimulating and intriguing. It was good to see John C. Reilly in a lead role as I have enjoyed his work in other films. There is a nice twist at the end which obviously works better if you haven't seen Nine Queens.

    If you enjoy caper films, this one is certainly worth a look.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio, although I have no facts to back this statement up.

    The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout although some backgrounds lacked a little detail. There was no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was very good.

    The colour was very good with no issues to report.

    The only noticeable artefact was some very mild aliasing on a car grille at 32:14.

    There are subtitles in English and English for the hearing impaired in addition to an automatic set which translate some lines in Spanish. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read.

    The layer change was not noticeable.
    

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

Audio

    The audio quality is good but nothing spectacular.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at a less than optimal 384 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The score of this film by Alex Wurman is very cool in a soul-funk vein. You could probably throw it in the same general category as the Get Shorty score, however not at the same level of quality.

    The surround speakers added some mild atmosphere but really didn't stand out. The movie was mostly dialogue driven so this was not a major surprise.

    I did not notice the subwoofer at all, although it probably added some bass to the music.

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

Extras

Menu

    The menu was still but included music and the ability to select scenes and subtitles.

Theatrical Trailer (1:39)

    A good trailer which manages to pique your interest without including spoilers.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Region 1 release of this film contains two extra trailers for other films in addition to the local contents. A draw.

Summary

    An enjoyable caper film based upon the Argentinean film Nine Queens.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

    A trailer is the only extra.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output
DisplaySony FD Trinitron Wega KV-AR34M36 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC).
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersBose 201 Direct Reflecting (Front), Phillips SB680V (Surround), Phillips MX731 (Center), Yamaha YST SW90 (Sub)

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