Whole Truth, The (Blu-ray) (2016) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Drama | None | |
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2016 | ||
Running Time | 93:34 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Courtney Hunt |
Studio
Distributor |
Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Keanu Reeves Renee Zellweger Gabriel Basso Gugu Mbatha-Raw Jim Belushi Jim Klock |
Case | ? | ||
RPI | ? | Music |
Evgueni Galperine Sascha Galperine |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1 |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.40:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 1080p | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
It was an open and shut case. Seventeen year old Mike Lassiter (Gabriel Basso) was found by police kneeling beside the body of his wealthy lawyer father Boone (Jim Belushi); his palm print was on the bloodied knife buried in his father’s chest and he confessed to police that he had done it. Lawyer and family friend of the Lassiter’s Richard Ramsey (Keanu Reeves) agrees to defend Mike, although his job is made more difficult because Mike refuses to talk to anyone, including Ramsey. When the trial commences Ramsey, assisted by Janelle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), will do almost anything to win and he believes that their only hope of sowing reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors is to attack the reputation of Boone by painting him as a womaniser and abusive towards his family. All this while Loretta (Renee Zellweger), his wife and mother of Mike, sits in the courtroom. As Prosecutor Leblanc (Jim Klock) opens his case and calls his first witnesses it becomes clear that not everyone is telling the whole truth.
The Whole Truth is an entertaining and competent courtroom whodunit directed by Courtney Hunt. Nearly the entire film plays out in the courtroom with witnesses giving evidence and being cross-examined although the witnesses’ evidence is frequently juxtaposed with flashbacks to the events being described so becomes clear that the evidence does not strictly match the events; we see that some witnesses are filtering the truth for their own purposes, others engaging in out and out lying. The film sets itself up in the early sections almost within the Rashomon genre, with different participants telling different stories, but this is then discarded as the film becomes a whodunit, not about different recollections of events but about outright lies and deception.
The Whole Truth is entertaining and flows along nicely. It has the required red herrings and the big twist at the end, although most will probably see it coming from about half way through. The cast is impressive, with Renee Zellweger and Gabriel Basso excellent while Jim Belushi does a good job in a dramatic role. Keanu Reeves is Keanu Reeves and is saddled with a superfluous voice over narration. He does not quite convince; it seems that Daniel Craig had been hired to play the role but pulled out four days before shooting commenced. I think he would have put something quite different, and potentially more interesting, onto the screen.
The Whole Truth is enjoyable enough. There are twists but few surprises and nothing very new but a decent cast and the compact running time make for a watchable and entertaining 90 minutes.
The Whole Truth is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.
Within the courtroom the film has a muted, brown colour palate but with brighter and lighter flashbacks and recollections. Detail is strong, blacks and shadow detail are fine, brightness and contrast consistent, skin tones natural.
Other than some aliasing on horizontal blinds, artefacts and marks were absent.
English subtitles for the Hearing Impaired are available.
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Audio is an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 track and an English descriptive audio is also provided (Dolby Digital 5.1).
A courtroom drama does not require any aural gymnastics. Dialogue is clean and centred while the rears and surrounds were utilised for ambient voices, the score, and an atonal hum to build tension. The sub-woofer was mostly silent.
The music by Evgueni & Sascha Galperine felt appropriate.
There are no lip synchronisation issues.
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Overall |
There are no extras of any kind.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region A US release of The Whole Truth adds Spanish subtitles but is otherwise identical to our version.
The Whole Truth is an entertaining courtroom mystery with twists and red herrings. In the end it feels rather like a TV episode of some crime show which needs to explain everything in full at the end. This is fair enough, but I cannot help but think that in a Rashomon type film, which this has some aspirations of being, a little bit left unclear is not such a bad thing.
The video and audio are fine. No extras at all, just like the US release.
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Extras | |
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Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Sony BDP-S580, using HDMI output |
Display | LG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
Amplification | NAD T737 |
Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |