A Perfect Getaway Blu-ray delivers great video and solid audio, but overall it's a mediocre Blu-ray release
Cliff and Cydney are an adventurous young couple celebrating their honeymoon by backpacking
to one of the most beautiful, and remote, beaches in Hawaii. Hiking the wild, secluded trails,
they believe they've found paradise. But when the pair comes across a group of frightened
hikers discussing the horrifying murder of another newlywed couple on the islands, they begin
to question whether they should turn back. Unsure whether to stay or flee, Cliff and Cydney
join up with two other couples, and things begin to go terrifyingly wrong. Far from civilization
or rescue, everyone begins to look like a threat and nobody knows whom to trust. Paradise
becomes hell on earth as a brutal battle for survival begins...
Having built up a fair tolerance to overwrought thrillers and contrived plot twists over the years, I know I shouldn't have enjoyed A Perfect Getaway as much as I did. I know better. Writer/director David Twohy's sun-slathered whodunit isn't even a film, it's a single plot twist stretched across ninety-seven minutes of celluloid. It doesn't have characters, it has agents of manipulation and deception. It doesn't have a story, it has a series of clues delivered in rapidfire succession. It isn't engrossing, it merely piques curiosity. It isn't lovingly shot, it's brashly cobbled together. And the inevitable scene that reveals Twohy's carefully guarded secrets? No thirty-second montage here. We're force-fed a sprawling, eight-minute remapping of the entire tale. Sounds awful, right? Even writing about the film's lesser qualities is making me second guess my own taste. But, for reasons impossible to convey, A Perfect Getaway managed to lure me in, entertain the dense action-junkie I have locked away in my brain and, at the very least, keep me guessing.
While honeymooning in Hawaii, newlyweds Cliff (Steve Zahn) and Cydney (Milla Jovovich) learn about a double homicide in Honolulu and begin to suspect, with good reason, that the vicious killers are targeting them next. But who can they trust? The sweet, open-armed, southern-drawled couple (Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez) they're traveling with? Who should they fear? The shady, aggressive twosome (Chris Hemsworth and Marley Shelton) they continually encounter along the way? Or are they simply being paranoid? Ultimately, it doesn't really matter. A Perfect Getaway is a film that fancies itself a Hitchcockian masterpiece, but fails to build any absorbing momentum or satisfying tension. It's blunt-force cinema at best, nonsensical drivel at worst. Twohy certainly revels in the ambiguity of it all, dropping so many red herrings that it becomes increasingly tiresome to keep track, and neatly hops from suspect to suspect, cursing each character with just enough suspicious behavior to call every expression and action into question. Yet he neglects to make any of them remotely likable. Those proven innocent are burdened with such darkness that I had a hard time suddenly embracing their helpfulness. The revealed killers demand the audience to make an equally jarring switchover. Even the film's fateful protagonists, Cliff and Cydney, are so gosh-shucks lovable that I began wishing someone would slit their throats so I could tag along with some other frightened couple.
That being said, Twohy brings such enthusiasm to his every shot, hint, and reveal that it's difficult to resist his charms. He also injects just enough madcap comic-madness into the proceedings that it becomes clear he isn't taking himself too seriously. He's more enamored with the complexity of the mystery -- the bloody, serrated details that transform nearly everyone on screen into a suspect -- than with the fundamentals of character development or plot progression. His twists and turns are the very heart of his tale, not a third-act interjection designed to catch viewers off guard. His chase scenes are fast and frantic, refusing to honor logic or reason. Normally I'd brush aside something like A Perfect Getaway, labeling its writer/director an inexperienced, unfocused hack, but everything in Twohy's film struck me as too purposeful to be the product of a mediocre filmmaker (this is, after all, the same man who brought us the exceptionally crafted Pitch Black). And while purpose doesn't necessarily justify some of his odd directorial decisions or his script's many, many flaws, it does make the film more accessible, even if only on a base level. Suffice to say, I may have found myself hoping Cliff and Cydney would meet an untimely end, but I still had a bit of unbridled fun watching it all unfold.
Does that make A Perfect Getaway great cinema? Hardly, but that doesn't change the fact that Twohy's thriller has the potential to entertain anyone armed with appropriate expectations, even those who would normally resist the wiles of such a twist-laden tale. If nothing else, it's worth renting just to watch Zahn and Olyphant chew scenery, chat about actors in Hollywood, and fight to survive a harrowing trip across Hawaii. As flawed as it is, as grating as some of its supporting performances can be, action-oriented thriller addicts should consider giving this hyper-stylized guilty pleasure a spin.
As overcooked as the film itself, A Perfect Getaway's 1080p/VC-1 transfer is nevertheless a faithful representation of Twohy's every eye-searing intention. Granted, you won't find many splashes of primary bliss in Mark Plummer's uninspired, overheated, secondary-hued palette. At one point, a character staring at the jungle canopy says "I've never seen so many shades of green" when, ironically, Plummer's photography offers only a handful. But while dense foliage resembles a sea of sweaty greens, blue skies are assaulted by streaks of violet clouds, and bronzed skintones are bathed in summery oranges, Universal's high definition presentation remains rich and vibrant. Blacks are inky and contrast is strong as well, blessing the image some much-needed depth. Detail is crisp to a fault, succumbing to shimmering on occasion, but leaves a lasting impression. Textures, particularly during close-ups, are remarkably refined, foreground elements pop, and overall clarity is exceedingly sharp. Perhaps a bit too sharp. While ringing isn't a serious issue, it's clear that artificial sharpening has been used liberally, lending the picture a raw, hyper-digitized edge; one that frequently struggles to contain source noise and flickering. Otherwise, artifacting, banding, and crush are nowhere to be found, and the studio's presentation is quite proficient.
A Perfect Getaway certainly isn't an attractive film but, for better or worse, Twohy's vision is intact. Overzealous sharpening aside, fans won't find much to complain about.
Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is less impressive, mainly because the mix defaults to a rather two-dimensional soundfield. Don't get me wrong, the rear speakers come alive when called upon -- foot chases, helicopter landings, and action scenes are immersive -- but too many elements in the soundscape are anchored to the center channel. It doesn't help that directional effects tend to linger near the screen, pulling the listener forward instead of dropping them into the middle of a chaotic jungle. Average sound design? Most likely. Since Universal hasn't made a habit of releasing shoddy lossless tracks, I suspect A Perfect Getaway sounds much like it did in theaters, much like it was meant to. However, underwhelming is underwhelming. Yes, meager environmental ambience is present at all times, the acoustics of a sea cavern are spot on, and somewhat aggressive LFE output drives the film's thrills along. And yes, dialogue is clean and clear, prioritization is faultless, and pans are nice and smooth. But a reference track transports its listeners to another place, a quality sorely lacking here. As it stands, A Perfect Getaway is perfectly passable. No more, no less.
Aside from including the 107-minute director's cut and the 97-minute theatrical cut of the film itself, the Blu-ray edition of A Perfect Getaway offers just one special feature: the film's original scripted ending (HD, 2 minutes). However, considering how similar the alternate scene is to the one presented in both cuts, it's little more than a curiosity. D-Box support, BD-Live functionality, and My Scenes bookmarking round out the disc.
It's safe to say A Perfect Getaway won't be gracing any Best-of-2009 lists, but it's a semi-decent thriller that offers some appeal to guilty pleasure enthusiasts. Sadly, Universal's Blu-ray release is as hit-or-miss as the film itself. While its video transfer is faithful to Twohy's intentions, its DTS-HD Master Audio track is a tad underwhelming and its supplemental package consists of a two-minute alternate ending. In the end, A Perfect Getaway is a perfect rental. Love it, loathe it, tolerate it, it's worth three bucks and ninety minutes of your life.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment will release David Twohy's 'A Perfect Getaway' on Blu-ray on December 29, day-and-date with the DVD. This thriller movie about a Hawaii vacation gone horribly wrong will be presented in its theatrical and unrated director's ...
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