Review: Standing Tall BD + Screen Caps

The French drama Standing Tall has a strong story at its core and a great, non-pretentious, message to boot even if it can feel like a Hallmark Movie of the Week feel and the performances by Catherine Deneuve and Rod Paradot are both excellent.

 

 

Standing Tall
(La tête haute)
(2015)

Genre(s): Drama
Entertainment One | R – 119 min. – $30.99 | September 13, 2016

Date Published: 09/11/2016 | Author: The Movieman

 

MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Emmanuelle Bercot Writer(s): Emmanuelle Bercot and Marcia Romano (written by) Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Rod Paradot, Benolt Magimel, Sara Forestier, Diane Rouxel DISC INFO: Features: Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Theatrical Trailer Digital Copy: No Formats Included: Blu-ray Number of Discs: 1 Audio: French (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (DTS-HD MA 5.1) Video: 1080p/Widescreen 2.39 Subtitles: English Disc Size: 43.2 GB Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Region(s): A

 

PLOT SYNOPSIS

Abandoned by his mother (SARA FORESTIER) at the age of 6, Malony (ROD PARADOT) is constantly in and out of juvenile court. An adoptive family grows around this young delinquent: Florence (CATHERINE DENEUVE), a children’s magistrate nearing retirement, and Yann (BENOIT MAGIMEL), a caseworker and himself the survivor of a very difficult childhood. Together they follow the boy’s journey and try unfailingly to save him. Then Malony is sent to a strict educational center, where he meets Tess (DIANE ROUXEL), a very special young girl who will show him that there are reasons for hope.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5

Inside the Film (19:12; HD) is a set of interviews with the cast and crew including Co-Writer/Director Emmanuelle Bercot and Actors Benoit Magimel and Rod Paradot. Deleted Scenes (27:18; HD) – There were 8 scenes that were removed and includes commentary with Bercot. Theatrical Trailer (1:44; HD)

 

VIDEO – 4.25/5

Standing Tall (aka La tête haute) is presented with a 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. For the most part it’s a nice looking picture, colors are bright and natural looking, detail appears to be fairly sharp and it looks pretty clean, free of any flaws. It’s nothing eye-catching but certainly pleasant looking enough.

AUDIO – 3.5/5

The disc comes the choice (both French language) of a Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with the former, for some reason, being the default so you’ll want to make sure to switch via the set-up menu. That said, while the DTS-HD MA option is more even keel by comparison (the DD is a bit too heavy), the bulk of this movie is dialogue so the center channel gets the majority of usage. I did notice, upon close inspection, that the rear speakers are relegated for ambient noises, otherwise it’s pretty minimal.

 

OVERALL – 3.25/5

Overall, the French drama Standing Tall has a strong story at its core and a great, non-pretentious, message to boot even if it can feel like a Hallmark Movie of the Week feel and the performances by Catherine Deneuve and Rod Paradot are both excellent. The Blu-ray released through Entertainment One offers some decent features and solid video/audio transfers.

 

 

 

 

Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.