FILM FRENZY

Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult in Renfield (Photo: Universal)

By Matt Brunson

(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray, 4K and DVD. Ratings are on a four-star scale.)

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES (2023). Considering the generally dire results whenever Hollywood adapts any sort of sit-down game — be it video (Warcraft, Assassin’s Creed) or board (Battleship) — this picture based on the tabletop role-playing game proves to be a pleasant surprise and should please even those totally unfamiliar with the brand (like me). Chris McKay, director of Renfield (reviewed below) and The Lego Batman Movie, and Michael Gilio concocted the story (the screenplay itself was written by Gilio and the film’s directors, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley), which centers on the exploits of a band of outsiders. Chris Pine plays Edgin Darvis, a thief who seeks to reunite with the teenage daughter (Chloe Coleman) who was stolen from him by former ally and accomplished con man Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant). The snarling barbarian Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez) and the bumbling sorcerer Simon Aumar (Justice Smith) are among those aiding Edgin in his cause, but they face formidable opposition from Forge’s eerie aide-de-camp, the murderous enchantress Sofina (Daisy Head). From Pine’s delightful performance to the consistently effective humor, there’s little about D&D that doesn’t charm. The sequence in which our heroes engage in Q&A sessions with revived corpses is a particular highlight, although the state of that dragon might be the best sight gag.

Extras in the 4K UHD + Blu-ray edition include a making-of piece; behind-the-scenes looks at the visual effects and stuntwork; deleted and extended scenes; and a gag reel.

Movie: ★★★

MAN ON THE TRAIN (2002). Start with Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper, drain it of all adventure and period flavor, replace that with plenty of existential angst, serve it up in a coat of Gallic glaze, and the result would look something like Man On the Train, the sort of talky yet tantalizing film we’ve come to expect from master French filmmaker Patrice Leconte (Monsieur Hire, The Girl On the Bridge). Yet here, the change of identity isn’t physical as much as mental, with two strangers who meet, quickly become acquainted, and equally as quickly find themselves yearning for each other’s lifestyle. Jean Rochefort plays Manesquier, an elderly teacher possessed with the gift of gab; Johnny Hallyday portrays Milan, a tight-lipped, small-time crook who arrives in Manesquier’s quiet burg with the intention of robbing its bank. Circumstances thrust the men together, and it’s not long before Manesquier grows fond of Milan’s outlaw status while Milan becomes enamored with the slow, steady rhythms of Manesquier’s sedate existence. The script by Claude Klotz showcases strong dialogue that seems to fly out of Hallyday’s mouth while floating out of Rochefort’s (credit the actors as much as the writer for any lingering text), yet at its heart is an unspoken, philosophical treatise on the manner in which our lives are laid out for us and whether it’s truly possible to suddenly shift gears to take the road less traveled.

The only Blu-ray extra is the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★★

OPERATION FORTUNE: RUSE DE GUERRE (2023). After venturing out of his comfort zone with 2017’s dreary King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and the so-so live-action Aladdin from 2019, writer-director Guy Ritchie returned to the milieu of cool-as-cucumber tough guys committing (or preventing) crimes while spouting ultra-hip dialogue with the pleasurable pair of 2019’s The Gentlemen and 2021’s Wrath of Man. Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre again finds Ritchie sticking with what he knows best, even if the end result suggests that he might be losing some of his mojo. Jason Statham stars as Orson Fortune, a freelance spy whose latest mission requires him to prevent billionaire arms dealer Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant) from selling “the Handle,” the advanced AI technology in his possession — you know, the type able to topple world governments, facilitate political assassinations, and make a mean cup of espresso all at the same time — to the highest bidder. Orson’s handler for this “Handle” assignment is the dapper Nathan Jasmine (Cary Elwes), and his team consists of computer expert Sarah Fidel (Aubrey Plaza), all-around operative JJ Davies (Bugzy Malone), and movie star Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett), the last-named reluctantly dragged into the proceedings to allow the spies access into Simmonds’ moneyed world. Ritchie’s trademark movies are known for deliciously twisty plots, but this one is disappointingly linear, with few surprises up its sleeve. The compensation comes in Plaza, whose quirky performance keeps the gentlemen in line.

Extras in the 4K UHD + Blu-ray edition include a making-of featurette and the short piece “Aubrey Plaza’s Guide to Spying.”

Movie: ★★½

THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS (1991). Or The Script Under the Coffee Cup, as one would assume that Wes Craven’s pitiable screenplay went through many hands and sat on many kitchen tables before some executive at Universal Pictures figured, “What the hell; maybe some bored teens will come check it out.” (And some did, as the film made a modest profit given its low budget.) Brandon Adams plays “Fool,” a young boy whose family is being evicted by the heartless landlords, the Robesons (Twin Peaks alumni Everett McGill and Wendy Robie). Needing money for his mom’s surgery, Fool reluctantly breaks into the Robesons’ house alongside a pair of small-time hoods (Ving Rhames and Jeremy Roberts), whereupon he learns that the crazy couple (who call each other Mommy and Daddy) keep a horde of children they’ve snatched and mutilated in their basement. With the help of the Robesons’ abused daughter Alice (A.J. Langer) and Roach (Sean Whalen), a teenager who lives within the walls, Fool tries to escape from this house that’s built like a prison fortress. As with most Craven images, this one suffers from lackluster performances, a clumsy screenplay, a campy tone, and a noticeable lack of suspense. There’s a feeble attempt by Craven to inject it with some half-hearted social commentary about class warfare and welfare, but claiming that it succeeds would be about as ludicrous as stating that the Fast & Furious films are cautionary tales warning against the dangers of speeding.

Extras in the 4K + Blu-ray edition include audio commentary by Craven; audio commentary by Adams, Langer, Whalen, and co-star Yan Birch; an interview with Robie; and behind-the-scenes footage.

Movie: ★½

RENFIELD (2023). It’s a clever hook, and one that allows, uh, fresh blood to be pumped into the Dracula saga. The primary character isn’t the legendary vampire himself but rather Renfield (immortalized by Dwight Frye in the 1931 Bela Lugosi Dracula), and the Count’s lowly servant is tired of having had to placate a narcissistic master for several centuries. Renfield, then, is a film about codependency, and what’s surprising about the movie is how much mileage it gets out of this angle. In a bookend performance to the one he delivered in 2013’s Warm Bodies (where he played another sensitive ghoul), Nicholas Hoult portrays Renfield, attending support-group meetings to address his issues and even falling for no-nonsense cop Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina), who inspires him with her refusal to back down from anybody. Nicolas Cage co-stars as Dracula, and while that smacks of stunt casting, he actually proves to be effective in the role, leaning on the humor but not neglecting the ferociousness — if anything, it’s a far more subdued performance than the maniacal one he gave as a wannabe bloodsucker in 1989’s Vampire’s Kiss. The picture occasionally gets sidetracked by a subplot involving Rebecca’s familial issues, but the gore is in the outlandish and inventive mode of The Evil Dead, and Hoult really sells the notion of Renfield as a harried, frustrated employee who badly wants to quit his job but doesn’t quite know how.

Extras in the Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Code edition include audio commentary by producer Samantha Nisenbolm, screenwriter Ryan Ridley, and select crew members; a behind-the-scenes featurette; a look at Cage as Dracula; and deleted and extended scenes.

Movie: ★★★

THELMA & LOUISE (1991). Director Ridley Scott’s galvanizing picture, in which two put-upon women (Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis) hit the road after shooting a would-be rapist dead, created quite the stir when it debuted back in the summer of ’91, as it was endlessly debated on op-ed pages as much as in A&E sections. This sleeper hit was quickly dismissed by some as a male-bashing fantasy and overanalyzed by others as a feminist manifesto; scripter Callie Kouri claimed that she intended neither. At any rate, this beautifully realized film remains a trenchant, almost mystical slice of Americana, with terrific turns by the two leads and an able supporting cast that includes Harvey Keitel as the sympathetic cop on their trail and Brad Pitt in his breakout role as a hunky hitchhiker (upon winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood, Pitt’s acceptance speech included a nod to “Geena and Ridley giving me my first shot”). Nominated for six Academy Awards (including Best Actress for both leading ladies and Best Director for Scott), this scored Kouri the statue for Best Original Screenplay. In an interesting bit of trivia, Jodie Foster and Michelle Pfeiffer had first crack at the film, and Pfeiffer also turned down The Silence of the Lambs; Foster would go on to win the ’91 Oscar for Silence over T&L‘s Sarandon and Davis.

Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by Scott; audio commentary by Sarandon, Davis, and Kouri; new interviews with Scott and Khouri; a making-of featurette; deleted and extended sequences; an extended ending; storyboards; 1965’s Boy & Bicycle, Scott’s first short film; and the music video for Glenn Frey’s “Part of You, Part of Me.”

Movie: ★★★★

YEAR OF THE COMET (1992). When Year of the Comet was initially released, the publicity surrounding the film focused on the fact that it marked William Goldman’s first original screenplay since his Oscar-winning one for 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (in the interim, he wrote approximately a dozen adaptations, among them The Stepford Wives, Misery, and All the President’s Men, the latter for which he won a second Academy Award). Yet such a ballyhooed distinction failed to impress either the critics or the moviegoing public, leading Goldman to frequently complain that the picture failed because no one out there cared about red wine. Sounds like sour (and pressed?) grapes to me — having caught the advance screening back in the day and revisiting it now on Blu-ray, the film remains what it has always been: a harmless but hopelessly bland romantic comedy with a few tepid thriller elements thrown in for good measure. Two vanilla performers, Penelope Ann Miller and Tim Daly, are likable if lackadaisical as a pair of gently combative Americans in pursuit of a priceless bottle of wine that once belonged to Napoleon. Also giving chase is a Scottish ex-con (Nick Brimble), a suave Greek henchman (Art Malik), and a diabolical Frenchman (Louis Jourdan) who, despite his Gallic background, admits to preferring beer over wine. Jourdan, in his final film, is at the center of a half-baked subplot (it involves a youth serum) that leads directly into the wince-inducing climax. For a far superior movie about wine — and one that did have people caring — stick with Sideways instead.

There are no Blu-ray extras.

Movie: ★★

FROM SCREEN TO STREAM

THE PARTY (1968). Taking a break from their string of uproarious Pink Panther films, writer-director Blake Edwards and star Peter Sellers pooled their talents for this picture that was designed as both a homage to silent comedy as well as an exercise in improvisation. Working from a screenplay that barely cleared 60 pages, Edwards (scripting with siblings Frank and Tom Waldman) filmed the project sequentially, thus allowing the humor to build naturally and also giving his actors plenty of room to experiment. Sellers stars as Hrundi V. Bakshi, a good-natured Indian actor imported by Hollywood to appear in an adventure flick not unlike Gunga Din. After Bakshi’s bumbling shenanigans result in the destruction of an expensive set, he’s supposed to be banned from the movie industry; instead, his name accidentally ends up on the guest list of a lavish party being thrown by studio mogul Fred Clutterbuck (J. Edward McKinley). And that’s all the plot needed for what’s basically a string of potent comic set-pieces, with Bakshi causing ample mayhem at the shindig. Particularly noteworthy are his encounters with a chatty bird (“Birdie num num”), a faulty toilet, and a wayward shoe, and the whole affair ends with the appearance of a baby elephant and bubbles, bubbles everywhere. Steve Franken has many choice moments as an inebriated waiter who causes almost as much destruction as Bakshi, while McKinley nicely underplays as the insensate Clutterbuck (“Sir, your wife fell in the pool!” “Get her jewelry.”). Despite Sellers donning brownface for his role, the movie was a huge hit in India, and even Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was reportedly a fan!

Movie: ★★★

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Review links for movies referenced in this column (all links open in new window):
Aladdin (2019)
Assassin’s Creed
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
The Fate of the Furious
F9
The Gentlemen
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
The Lego Batman Movie
Misery
Monsieur Hire
Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood
The Pink Panther Series
The Silence of the Lambs
Vampire’s Kiss
Warcraft
Warm Bodies
Wrath of Man