Stretch is a movie that unfortunately gone under the radar thanks to it going straight to streaming (before it routine) six years ago. Patrick Wilson is pitch-perfect in the lead and Chris Pine shows off his comedic prowess.
Stretch
(2014)
Genre(s): Comedy, Action, Crime
Kino Lorber | R – 94 min. – $24.95 | January 12, 2021
Date Published: 01/29/2021 | Author: The Movieman
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Kino Lorber provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 4½/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: When Hollywood limo driver Stretch (PATRICK WILSON) is in need of some quick cash to pay back his debts to a notorious gangster, he takes a job with a billionaire client (CHRIS PINE in an uncredited role) in hopes of a big payday. His client’s eccentricities soon escalate into a wild night of adventure, sex and danger, which begins to make the fate of returning to the mob empty-handed seem reasonable.
Quick Hit Review: While I have seen many films from Joe Carnahan including Smokin’ Aces, Narc, The A-Team and The Grey, Stretch was one that seemed to slip by, probably because Universal scrapped a theatrical release and producer Jason Blum was unable to find a distributor, so it was ultimately debuted on iTunes, Amazon and VOD. It’s a real shame because Stretch is a hilarious dark comedy, a film I immensely enjoyed, more so than Smokin’ Aces. The film at times is off-the-wall insane and with Patrick Wilson in the lead, just works about at every level, playing a down-and-almost-out character so damn well. Not alone in this, but Wilson is a bit of an underappreciated actor, turning in solid performances no matter the genre be it horror (The Conjuring and Insidious) or action-adventure (Aquaman). Included in the cast are Ed Helms as a former limo driver turned imaginary friend; James Badge Dale, another underrated actor, as an undercover FBI agent; Jessica Alba playing the limo company receptionist.
Last and certainly not least, Chris Pine in an unusually uncredited role (apparently did it for free) given the size of the part, as an eccentric billionaire who takes Stretch down a dark and bizarre path. The interactions between Pine and Wilson are priceless and alone are worth the time investment. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2½/5 |
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Audio Commentaries:
Carnahan is joined by his two children and looks back on this project that has been pretty much neglected, talks about working with the cast and breaks down certain locales and other behind-the-scenes stories. As for Mueller’s track, it’s a bit more low key and takes a more professorial viewpoint on the movie, outlines its history and talks about Carnahan’s career. Interview (12:21) with actor Patrick Wilson who discusses his memories of working on the film. Theatrical Trailer (1:27) |
VIDEO – 4½/5 |
| Stretch, six years after its release, finally gets a Blu-ray release courtesy of Kino Lorber, presented in its original 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. There’s no mention of any sort of new transfer or restoration, not it probably needed it since it’s not that old, so presumably Universal provided the original camera negative. Even so, the picture looks great, detail is relatively sharp and colors have a nice vibrancy, some scenes pop off the screen such as when Stretch goes into the elevator at a club to collect a briefcase. Meanwhile, black levels are stark without appearing crushed. An all around solid transfer by Kino Lorber and Universal. |
AUDIO – 4¼/5 |
| The disc includes a basic yet still robust enough DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track (a 2.0 option is also available). Dialogue comes across with good clarity and given the amount of action there is, mostly limo chases, as well as scenes inside the club, there is some decent depth coming out of the front and rear channels. |
OVERALL – 3¾/5 |
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Stretch is a movie that unfortunately gone under the radar thanks to it going straight to streaming (before it routine) six years ago. Patrick Wilson is pitch-perfect in the lead and Chris Pine shows off his comedic prowess as he has done much of his career. The Blu-ray released by Kino Lorber has some new bonus features and has good video and audio transfer making it an immediate upgrade over the original DVD release. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.