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| Special Features: |
Widescreen and full screen format.
Chapter selection.
Theatrical trailer. |
| Video Format: |
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) and full frame pan and scan formats
[DS-SL]
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| Languages: |
English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
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| Subtitles: |
English, Spanish.
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| Captions: |
Yes
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| Casing: |
1-Disc Keep Case
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I don't know why I enjoyed "Deceiver," because it was a totally illogical and muddled mess. The three points I give the movie are probably due to the over-the-top performances by every one in the cast. The story has more plot holes than a 30 year supply of Swiss cheese. The ending is incoherent and ridiculous. I still enjoyed the ride. I just hated the bad aftertaste.
"Deceiver" involves the investigation of James Wayland (Tim Roth) for the Black Dahlia style murder of a hooker. Wayland is a rich unemployed alcoholic with temporal lobe epilepsy. He is being grilled by two detectives. Detective Kennesaw (Michael Rooker) is married to the foxy Rosanna Arquette. He hates her and can't perform sexually. Wayland gets the brunt of Kennesaw's frustration. Detective Braxton (Chris Penn) is a mental midget who idolizes Kennesaw. Kennesaw is teaching him to run the polygraph machine they have Wayland hooked up to. Braxton was a security guard at Wal-Mart for four years before finally becoming a cop. Wayland is smarter than both of them combined. Wayland gets the dirt on his accusers and turns the tables on them.
The victim is a ditzy hooker played by Renee Zellweger. She is perky and zany, but she has nothing to do. Ellen Burstyn is "Mook," the local Godmother of crime. She supplies Wayland with the absinthe that eats his twisted mind.
There is no need to go any further because this movie is like abstract art as far as the plot is concerned. The plot loses such track of reality that each viewer can read whatever they want into it. I enjoyed the performances. Tim Roth is always watchable, even in a goofy movie like this. Michael Rooker hasn't been this intense since "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer." Rosanna Arquette is hot as the nympho wife of Rooker. Chris Penn is his usual competent self as the dopey Braxton. I'll stop now, as I've already put more thought into this review than the filmmakers did into the script.
Off-beat misfire movie rich with quirky performances. Good picture and sound. No extras. Vanilla at vanilla prices.
Picture Quality: 8/10
A few artifacts present. There are some delineation problems between dark and light colors during the night time scenes.
Sound Quality: 8/10
I noticed some distortion through the sub-woofer of the home theater system. No loss of dialogue. Fair musical score.
Menu: 7/10
Mediocre design. Easy to navigate.
Extra Features: 2/10
Just the trailer. Nothing special.
The Final Word:
This one only costs $14.98. Fans of the cast might want to risk the chump change it takes to buy this one. It has the potential to become your guilty pleasure. Others beware.
Rusty White
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