Mary on paper at least had plenty of potential and with a recent Academy Award winner at the helm in Gary Oldman, this was an all around disappointing film with poor editing and weak plot and characters.
Mary
(2019)
Genre(s): Horror, Thriller, Supernatural
RLJ Entertainment | NR – 94 min. – $29.97 | November 26, 2019
Date Published: 12/11/2019 | Author: The Movieman
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RLJ Entertainment 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 — 2.0/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: David (GARY OLDMAN) is a struggling blue-collar captain looking to make a better life for his family: wife Sarah (EMILY MORTIMER) and two daughters Lindsey (STEFANIE SCOTT) and Mary (CHLOE PERRIN). Strangely drawn to an abandoned ship that is up for auction, David impulsively buys the boat, believing it will be his family’s ticket to happiness and prosperity. But soon after they embark on their maiden journey, strange and frightening events begin to terrorize David and his family, causing them to turn on one another and doubt their own sanity. With tensions high, the ship drifts off course, and it becomes horrifyingly clear that they are being lured to an even greater evil out at sea. Quick Hit Review: Seems like every year there’s something about a movie that is perplexing. For this Michael Goi (Megan is Missing) directed supernatural-thriller, Mary is a conundrum to how the filmmakers managed to rope in Gary Oldman, pretty much fresh off of his long-deserving Oscar win. I can only think the script Oldman read was far more captivating than a final product that maybe a studio took over and choppily edited to make it more “commercial”; either that, or Oldman was doing somebody a favor. Whatever the case, Mary was just a mess of a film where one would think a thriller taking place in such a confined space could make for some intense moments with this small cast. Instead, the thrills are replaced with moments of boredom and a lead actor who seemed to be mailing it in, though should be noted, even in such a state, he is still captivating to watch. Emily Mortimer does her best with a rather thinly written character while the younger cast were fine, but hardly noteworthy. Beyond how Mary got made, it’s still rather astounding that an actor of Gary Oldman’s standards got roped into a third-rate supernatural-thriller. While it did have some potential, its lackluster script didn’t help. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5 |
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This release comes with a title-embossed slip cover. Only features is The Making of Mary, Family at Sea: The Cast of Mary featurettes and a Still Gallery. |
VIDEO – 4.25/5 |
| Mary sails onto Blu-ray presented with a 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. Although part of the movie takes place at night in a raging storm, detail is still fairly sharp and colors do have a modest pop to them while skin tones have a natural appearance. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| The included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track has a good amount of depth especially during the aforementioned stormy scenes while other parts shows off ambient noises on the open sea; dialogue also comes through the center channel with fine clarity. |
OVERALL – 2.0/5 |
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Mary on paper at least had plenty of potential and with a recent Academy Award winner at the helm in Gary Oldman, this was an all around disappointing film with poor editing and weak plot and characters. I suppose if you’re a fan of Oldman, this might be worth sticking through, but even then I’m not sure. |