44 Inch Chest Blu-ray offers solid video and audio, but overall it's a mediocre Blu-ray release
Colin Diamond discovers that his wife of twenty years is having an affair with a good-looking younger man.
When his motley group of friends decide to kidnap the young man, Colin must wrestle with his conscience.
44 Inch Chest is not the film I expected to see when I first laid eyes on this Blu-ray
release's cover art. Here we have "From the Writers of Sexy Beast," a tagline that reads
"The Measure of Revenge," and a cast that includes Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson, Ian
McShane, and Stephen Dillanea veritable who's who of the pulpy British gangster genre. But
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels this ain't. There will be viewers, blind buyers
perhaps, who will feel seriously misled. No guns are fired, there are no hold-ups or heists, the
closest we get to a car chase is a minivan speeding down an alleyway, and the revenge mentioned
in the tagline turns out to be a dud bottlerocket (figuratively, not literally). What we have, instead,
is an East End ditty on masculinity, jealousy, and morality, theatrically stagedthe action, if you
can call it that, largely takes place in a single dingy roomand driven by coarse-as-sandpaper
dialogue that's more David Mamet than Guy Ritchie. Think psychological stage play rather than
balls-out British crime caper. The change of pace is refreshinginitially, at leastbut 44 Inch
Chest eventually gets bogged down by talking heads and bleeding hearts.
"I can't l-i-i-i-i-i-ve, if living is without you..."
The only pitch-perfect moment of the film is the opening scene, which shows the aftermath of
some yet to be identified physical struggle and emotional shitstorm. First-time director Malcolm
Venville's camera rests on the detritus of the eventshattered glass on a tile floor, the cracked
screen of a plasma TV, a poodle hiding under a couch, looking terrifiedbefore dollying slowly
around a corner, where garage owner and sometime gangster Colin Diamond (Ray Winstone) is
lying on his back, his eyes brimming with tears as he listens to Harry Nilsson's "Without You" on
repeat. It's suddenly clear what has happeneda breakup gone seriously bad. It turns out that
his wife of twenty one years, Liz (Joanne Whalley), has been secretly seeing a French waiter
played taciturnly by A Christmas Story's Melvil Poupaudknown in the film only as
"Loverboy." When they find out about the cuckoldry, Colin's seedy gangster friends kidnap
Loverboy and chuck him in a wardrobe in an abandoned house, where Colin is brought to wreak
his husbandly revenge. The remainder of the film has Colinalternately and sometimes
simultaneously distraught, hyperventilating, wounded, drunk, and outright crazyweighing the
pros and cons of killing the adulterer. This is a tedious, brain-draining process, both for Colinwho
even starts hallucinating his own delusionsand, cinematically, for us.
He's goaded on, at least, by some crackling characters who fit neatly in stock British gangster
stereotypes but avoid cliché thanks to the specificity of Louis Mellis and David Scinto's screenplay.
Tom Wilkinson is Archie, the nicest of the motley crew, a sympathetic middle-aged tough who still
lives with his mum. Stephen Dillane is more volatile as the appropriately named Mal, ever urging
Colin on to violence. The scene stealers here, though, are Ian McShane and John Hurt, the
former playing a gay gangster who purrs suavely about his personal preference for hedonism over
attachment, while the latter is Old Man Peanut, an old school brute who spews hate-filled
invectives laden with language that's decidedly unfit to print. On a sentence level, the dialogue is
sharp and astringent, and Hurt, in particular, seems to relish his role, his dentures gnawing the
scenery, his mouth constantly filled with malice. As a whole, though, the crassness of it all seems
showy, masturbatory even, and the script feels unpolished and unfocused, filled with unnecessary
asides and bizarre non sequiturs. At one point, Old Man Peanut even rehashes the story of
Sampson and Delilah for usillustrated with clips from Cecil B. Demille's version of the talein
case we've otherwise failed to locate the film's thematic center.
Yes, 44 Inch Chest is essentially about how a woman can emotionally emasculate a
man, turning him into a blubbering, spineless mess. If it sounds borderline misogynistic, it is. The
film purports to be an incisive psychological exploration of jealousy, forgiveness, and what it
means to be a man, but what comes through is the spite directed at Liz, in particular, and
women, in general. I think (and hope) we can all recognize that Old Man Peanut is in the wrong
when he says, "Good for you, son," after Colin confesses to punching Liz repeatedly in the face
he explicitly details how her head bounced off of the door framebut that doesn't make the
moment any less malicious, especially when we see it play out in flashback. And while the word
"cunt" gets tossed around quite frequently in British gangster filmsit is, after all, a part of the
vernacularit's used excessively here, almost becoming a mantra for hatefulness. There's a thin
line between representing misogyny onscreen and actually encouraging it, and 44 Inch
Chest crosses that line a little too often for my tastes. There's some terrific acting going on
here, but ultimately there's not much meaning in the film's sound and fury. Those looking for an
action-filled spree will be doubly disappointed by the anti-climax of an ending.
Image Entertainment brings 44 Inch Chest stateside to Blu-ray with an impressive-for-
what-it-is 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer, framed in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The image
is intentionally bleak and dingythe whole movie is cast in a dismal grayish brownbut the lack of
color belies an otherwise decently appointed picture. Clarity is quite strong throughout, with the
frequent close-ups of Colin displaying minute, facial feature details, from the tiniest beads of sweat
on his brow to the definition of each hair in his scraggly beard. 1080p doesn't really do the art
direction any favorsthe set really looks like a setbut it's tight and crisp all the same. Given the
restrained color scheme and somewhat weak contrast, there's little "pop" or presence to the image,
even though black levels are deep and very rarely crush any detail. I popped in a DVD screener for
comparison, and the Blu-ray handily beats it, but this is by no means a wowing high definition
experience. The cinematography is restrained and non-showy, making sure the dialogue remains
the focus. Grain is fine, only spiking a handful of times, and though the movie was shot on film, it
has a certain video-esque quality that I can't quite put my finger on. I think it has to do with
lighting, mostly. I didn't notice any compression-related distractions or other mishaps or
mishandlings.
Like the cinematography, the film's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is extremely reserved,
enhancing the story's this could easily be a stage play vibe. Obviously, the dialogue is the
most important element here, and it's handled flawlessly, broadcast up front and center with clarity
and strength. Angelo Badalamenti and Massive Attack's score is quiet and complementary, never
overpowering the proceedings but hanging back to subtly underscore Colin's emotions. The music is
bled into the rear channels quite often, but otherwise there's little use of the surrounds, except for
some understated ambience and two, maybe three cross-channel effects, like passing cars and the
spin of a 2-pence coin on a hardwood floor. The track never gets a chance to outright roar, but bass
does creep in to accentuate the tension at times, and the music has plenty of depth and detail.
English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available in easy-to-read white lettering.
Commentary with Director Malcolm Venville
First-time feature helmer Malcolm Venvillewho cut his teeth on commercials, which he
considers the most practical form of film schooldishes about his experience working on 44
Inch Chest, covering all the usual topics of conversation.
Featurette (SD, 15:20)
Complementing Venville's commentary is a solid making-of documentary/promo piece, which
features all of the principal actors discussing their characters, the thoughts of the director and
producers, and plenty of behind-the-scenes footage.
Epilogues (SD, 4:40)
An interesting inclusion. All of the principal male actorswith the exception of Ray Winstone
deliver short monologues about the fates of their characters. Unsurprisingly, John Hurt's is the
best, as Old Man Peanut speaks from beyond the grave Spoon River Anthology-style and tells us
how he faced down death.
Interview with Malcom Venville (SD, 22:56)
Director Malcolm Venville talks about his career in commercials, his main influencesRear
Window and The Singing Detectiveand gives his thoughts about 44 Inch Chest's story
and script.
44 Inch Chest is not at all what I expected, and while it's occasionally intense as an
experiment in psychological storytellingand snake-tongued languagethe results of the
experiment are unfulfilling and inconclusive. Those interested in seeing the five lead actors play off
of one another may want to give this one a rental, but viewers looking for the latest, greatest
British gangland caper should turn their attentions elsewhere.
Image Entertainment has announced the release details for 44 Inch Chest, which is scheduled to come out on Blu-ray on April 20. 44 Inch Chest is a crime thriller from the writers of Sexy Beast, starring Ray Winstone and an all-star British cast, including John ...