Not quite as powerful as it could have been, Clint Eastwood’s True Crime at least offers a couple fine performances and has a compelling enough of a story, though the screenplay could’ve used more work.
True Crime
(1999)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Drama, Crime
Warner Bros. | R – 127 min. – $14.97 | May 3, 2016
Date Published: 05/09/2016 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE – 3.0/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: When a colleague of reporter Steve Everett (CLINT EASTWOOD) is killed in a car accident, he’s assigned to her latest assignment: a social piece on inmate Frank Beechum (ISAIAH WASHINGTON) who is set for execution for a murder of a convenience store clerk six years earlier, a crime he may (or may not) have committed. With a wife (DIANE VENORA) he cheats on, with his news editor’s (DENIS LEARY) wife no less, he’s on his last leg both personal and professional and despite resistence from the paper owner (JAMES WOOD) and editor, runs down leads in the hopes of uncovering the truth before midnight. Quick Hit Review: Hardly the strongest Clint Eastwood movie, and it’s not by a long-shot, but it still features a compelling enough story and the performances from Eastwood and Isaiah Washington nearly overcome the bad ones by the child actors… Beyond that, the screenplay itself could’ve gone through a revision or two and the ending, or epilogue, felt tacked on. In the end, it’s a fine movie that probably could’ve been great. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5 |
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The Scene of the Crime (9:27; SD) is a set of old interviews with Clint Eastwood, Isaiah Washington, James Woods and Denis Leary as they discuss various topics from story and characters. True Crime: True Stories (22:04; SD) – This vintage featurette is a reporter’s true-life experience that parallel the movie. “Why Should I Care?” Music Video by Diana Krall (3:52; SD) Theatrical Trailer (2:29; HD) |
VIDEO – 3.75/5 |
| Warner Home Video releases True Crime on Blu-ray presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer (MPEG-4 AVC codec). This looks like an old school transfer from Warner, neither generally pleasing to look at yet also doesn’t look half bad with decent colors, sharp detail and a by and large clean transfer, free of major instances of dust marks, scratches and other flaws. |
AUDIO – 3.5/5 |
| The disc comes with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which is standard fare but satisfactory enough providing clear dialogue but everything else is limited. The score sounded fine but lacked any depth and even the various ambient noises coming from the rear speakers was a tad too light. All in all, the lossless track lacked much depth. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
| Overall, not quite as powerful as it could have been, Clint Eastwood’s True Crime at least offers a couple fine performances and has a compelling enough of a story, though the screenplay could’ve used more work. The Blu-ray released by Warner is pretty based with some archive features and good video/audio transfers. |
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.