The Movie
The Great Buck Howard is a tour de force for star John Malkovich, who richly, gleefully brings to life an entertainer of a bygone era, a "mentalist" who once packed houses around the world and--as he's fond of pointing out--appeared on The Tonight Show (the one with Johnny Carson) 61 times. Right down to his charity work alongside George Takei "from The Star Trek, 'May The Force be in you,'" so much about Buck feels out-of-date and yet he perseveres despite dwindling audiences and general apathy (or the occasional hatchet job) from the media. His anger and mysterious talent play well against his naïve but fiercely loyal new road manager (affable, baby-faced Colin Hanks) in this amusing, bittersweet character study that also serves as a portrait of the less glamorous side of show business.
Also check out Mark Grady's review of The Great Buck Howard.
The Picture
Darkly-lit scenes are remarkably noisy, and even when the foreground is sharp, other areas of the 1.85:1 frame show a very busy twitch. Textures, as on clothing, can seem artificially rendered. Some backgrounds are also mushy and can appear unnatural, while blacks on the other hand can be detailed and realistic. Every once in a while we're given a shot with which I have no complaint, but in general the video noise levels here are unacceptable.
The Sound
The bouncy music exhibits excellent overall fidelity, and there's a real thump to the bass drum, while the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix gives the score a beautiful spread across all the speakers. Basic effects cues are utilized sporadically to create a sense of space, with a cleanness to touches like doors slamming. Audiences at the various venues can fill the rears, but too often the surround channels are dead, save for added omnipresent room tone.
The Extras
The warm audio commentary with writer/director Sean McGinly and actor Colin Hanks is fun and enlightening. Three deleted scenes run about three minutes total, in addition to five extended scenes of Buck's various TV appearances (about ten minutes), while "Outtakes" is three-and-a-half minutes of alternate takes/camera angles and other little trims. A general "Behind the Scenes" featurette (nine-and-a-half minutes) joins the brief "HDNet: A Look at The Great Buck Howard" (four-and-a-half minutes) and ultimately "The Amazing Kreskin," about six minutes culled from an interview with the famed real-life mentalist who inspired the Buck Howard character. Somewhat surprisingly, all of the extras are in standard definition, even the HDNet piece, although this looks the sharpest of the bunch.
Final Thoughts
Buck Howard is a good enough movie that hopefully we can see past some nasty video and lackluster audio and just appreciate The Great performances and story.
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Product Details
- Actors: John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, Emily Blunt, Ricky Jay, Steve Zahn, Tom Hanks, Griffin Dunne, B.J. Hendricks, Debra Monk, Adam Scott, Patrick Fischler, Wallace Langham
- Director: Sean McGinly
- Audio Format/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English)
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rating: PG
- Studio: Magnolia
- Release Date: July 21, 2009
- Run Time: 90 minutes
- List Price: $34.98
- Extras:
- Audio Commentary with Sean McGinly and Colin Hanks
- Deleted Scenes
- Extended Scenes
- Outtakes
- "Behind the Scenes"
- "HDNet: A Look at The Great Buck Howard"
- "The Amazing Kreskin"
