PatWahlquist
Supporting Actor
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Indecent Proposal (Blu-ray)
Studio: Paramount
Rated: R (for sexuality and language)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
HD Encoding: 1080p
HD Video Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1; Spanish, French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese; English SDH+
Time: 116 minutes
Disc Format: 1 SS/DL BD
Case Style: Keep case
Theatrical Release Date: 1993
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 9, 2009
Diana and David Murphy (Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson) love each other a lot. They are so in love that they tell each other it at almost any chance as they look passionately into each other’s eyes. They make love often and romantically with the light just right and it’s never raunchy, just two people making love. In case you still haven’t gotten the point, Sade tells us this is no ordinary love, while D & D make love to the music. So is it a bigger challenge for billionaire John Gage (Robert Redford) to attempt to get such a committed woman? Of course it is, and when Diana comes on John’s radar as she and David are in Vegas trying to make enough money to pay for their house, John makes a stunning offer to them: one night with Diana for $1 million. Their dream house is about to be taken from them and this would solve all their problems and more provided D & D’s (as they constantly refer to themselves) marriage can sustain such a choice.
Diana goes for it otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a movie. She finds John to be as slick as she thought, and Redford plays John with a devilish twinkle behind those heavenly eyes. Once Diana returns home to David, the couple finds they just can’t live with the consequences, the pseudo broken trust, the questions with unbelievable answers. Diana finds John to be not as bad as she thought as she begins a relationship with him, leaving David with an even bigger challenge if he is to reclaim the woman he loves and repair their life.
Director Adrian Lyne spent the better part of almost a couple decades re-defining what love, sex and infidelity was in the modern age. With Indecent Proposal, Fatal Attraction, 9 ½ Weeks, and finally, 2002’s Unfaithful, he added new raciness to how we were cheating today, how we embraced our sexuality and how we used a boiled rabbit to good effect. Indecent Proposal’s premise explores what we’d do for money and asks just how strong is love in the face of hard earned riches. He never really gives us much of a surprise in any of his movies, but he makes the trips fairly interesting and pretty looking. His style, heavily influenced by the slick MTV editing and shooting styles of the day, lends itself to wistful, passionate love making. Unfortunately, as much as you’re intrigued while the picture is playing, it leaves you unsatisfied within a few minutes of its conclusion. Each of the actors try their darndest to make something more of the story, with Redford reminding us just how charismatic he can be and Moore proving her beauty can’t be toned down even by the common man appeal of Harrelson.
Movie: **/*****
Video:
Note: I am watching this title using a Marantz VP 11-S1 DLP projector, which has a native resolution of 1080p. I am using a Sony Playstation 3 Blu-Ray player while a Denon 3808CI does the switching and pass through of the video signal. I am utilizing the HDMI capabilities of each piece of equipment.
The Blu-Ray disc is encoded in the MPEG-4 AVC codec at 1080p with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The picture seems to have been shot somewhat soft like most of Lyne’s pictures, with the palate remaining fairly cool. Flesh tones are smooth and accurate, and they are at the whim of the aforementioned color attributes. Detail and sharpness are good but are slightly intruded upon by the softness of the filmed image. Grain structure is evident but not terribly intrusive. Black levels are fair and show some detail. The overall image is fairly flat. It shows minor trace amounts of print dirt and minimal edge enhancement.
Video: **.5/*****
Audio:
The 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack was attained by the HDMI connection of the PS3 to the Denon 3808CI.
I watched the feature with the Dolby Digital TrueHD 5.1 track engaged. The track is very front heavy with the surrounds quietly waking up in the casino scenes or to add a little reverb to the music. LFE’s were used infrequently. The soundtrack was free from any distortion, and the actor’s voices sounded smooth and natural.
Audio: **/*****
Bonus Material:
Commentary with Director Adrian Lyne: Lyne turns in perhaps the most boring commentary I’ve ever heard. He leaves gaps throughout and when he finally says anything it really doesn’t add anything to the story. He mentions some minor stories about the shoot, but he just doesn’t seem to be too involved.
Bonus Material: */*****
Conclusions:
If nothing else, Indecent Proposal will give you and your significant other a topic to talk about since you certainly won’t be discussing the mediocrity of the story and disc.
