Somewhere in there, The Scribbler is a good concept but poorly executed from both the direction and screenplay, though at the very least Katie Cassidy does well in the title role while the supporting cast, as impressive as they might be, were either miscast or, in the case of Gina Gershon, vastly underutilized.
The Scribbler
(2014)
Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Drama
XLrator | R – 90 min. – $20.99 | October 21, 2014
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: John Suits Writer(s): Dan Schaffer (screenplay) Cast: Katie Cassidy, Garret Dillahunt, Michelle Trachtenberg, Michael Imperioli, Gina Gershon, Sasha Grey, Eliza Dushku, Billy Campbell DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1) |
THE MOVIE – 2.0/5
Plot Summary: Suki (KATIE CASSIDY) is a young woman confronting her destructive mental illness using “The Siamese Burn,” an experimental machine designed to eliminate multiple personalities. The closer Suki comes to being “cured,” she’s haunted by a thought… what if the last unwanted identity turns out to be her?
Quick Hit Review: Filled with plenty of potential with a respectable cast, The Scribbler, based upon a graphic novel I hadn’t read, let alone heard of, is a murky film both in style and storytelling. Katie Cassidy for her part tries her best and has a couple highlight scenes not to mention a semi-graphic sex scene, perhaps the only memorable one. However, even with the likes of Eliza Dushku, miscast as a criminal psychologist, Michael Imperioli hasn’t much to do as the hard-nosed detective and Gina Gershon, probably the best of the supporting cast, is underutilized and has maybe 5-minutes of screen-time. Then there’s the direction by John Suits where the fight scenes are darkly shot, where of course it’s raining, and the fight choreography itself is in itself poorly done.
Whether or not you’ve read the graphic novel, by Dan Schaffer who adapted his own work which was part of the problem with the stilted and odd dialogue, The Scribbler might’ve had at its core a good off-brand superhero flick but instead littered with bad pacing and a muddy plotline that doesn’t hold up even in the relatively short 90-minute screen time.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0.5/5
The only feature is a theatrical trailer (1:45).
VIDEO – 4.5/5
Courtesy of XLrator Media, The Scribbler arrives on Blu-ray presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. Surprisingly enough, this transfer looks pretty darn good starting with the sharp and clear detail levels while colors, in certain instances, are bright and stand out since the tone on the whole is dark. Black levels, though also appear well balanced with no obvious signs of artifacts or pixilation.
AUDIO – 4.25/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track meanwhile is good but hardly exceptional. It does provide clear dialogue levels throughout while the more thriller aspects aren’t as dynamic, though come through each channel well enough as does the “atmospheric” score by Alec Puro (“Manhattan Love Story”).
OVERALL – 2.5/5
Overall, somewhere in there, The Scribbler is a good concept but poorly executed from both the direction and screenplay, though at the very least Katie Cassidy does well in the title role while the supporting cast, as impressive as they might be, were either miscast or, in the case of Gina Hershon, vastly underutilized. The Blu-ray release does offer good audio/video transfers but unfortunately the bonus material is more or less non-existent.
Published: 10/25/2014