DVD Review - July 20

By Damon Smith

New to rent on DVD/Blu-ray

DVD of the week

Robot & Frank (Cert 12, 85 mins, Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment, Sci-Fi/Drama, also available to buy DVD/Blu-ray £15.99)

Starring: Frank Langella, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon and the voice of Peter Sarsgaard.

Ageing ex-con Frank (Frank Langella) lives alone and is slowly relinquishing his grasp on memories of the past. So the old man's techno-reliant son, Hunter (James Marsden), installs a VGC-60L robot helper (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard) to do Frank's bidding. At first, Frank is reluctant to switch on the automaton, but once he learns that VGC-60L has no programming to distinguish right from wrong, man and machine carry out the theft of a priceless edition of Don Quixote, which is the pride and joy of the local librarian, Jennifer (Susan Sarandon). Emboldened by their escapades, Frank and his robot ramp up their larcenous activities with wryly amusing and heartbreaking consequences. "Are you in?" Frank wonders excitedly. "Only if you agree to eat a low-sodium diet from now on," dryly responds his mechanised sidekick. Robot & Frank is an endearing, futuristic buddy movie about the unusual bond of trust between a man, who fears his days of excitement are far behind him, and his mechanised servant. Jake Schreier's film is a delightful slice of techno-life, anchored by a terrific performance from Langella as a cantankerous old coot, who finds companionship when he least expects it. Sarandon, Marsden and Liv Tyler offer solid supporting performances as friends and loved ones, helping Frank through the fog of his twilight years. The plot is slight and the resolution messy but the central relationship is always touchingly believable, orchestrated with minimal special effects so the story retains a deep emotional core.

Rating: ****

Identity Thief (Cert 15, 106 mins, Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd, Comedy/Action/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Jason Bateman, Amanda Peet, Robert Patrick, John Cho, Morris Chestnut, Mary-Charles Jones, Maggie Elizabeth Jones.

Sandy Bigelow Patterson (Jason Bateman) is a mild-mannered accounts clerk, who lives in Denver with his wife Trish (Amanda Peet) and their two young daughters, Franny (Mary-Charles Jones) and Jessie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones). Domestic bliss is shattered when Sandy learns that a Florida shopaholic called Diana (Melissa McCarthy) has stolen his identity and run up huge bills on his credit cards. Moreover, she has been arrested in his name and local police, led by Detective Reilly (Morris Chestnut), are obliged to harass Sandy for her misdemeanours. Standing on the brink of financial ruin, Sandy resolves to hunt down Diana and drag her back to Denver to own up to her crimes but a tenacious bail bondsman (Robert Patrick) is also in hot pursuit of the con woman. Identity Thief should be a riot, considering the quality of talent in front of the camera, but Craig Mazin's screenplay is off-balance almost from the start. We're cajoled into feeling sorry for Diana and the script ladles on the anguish for her back story, but her disregard for Sandy and initial lack of remorse leave us cold at the very moment the film encourages us to care about this wayward soul. Seth Gordon's brash comedy relies heavily on the razor-sharp comic timing of the two leads, casting Bateman as the beleaguered straight man to McCarthy's whirlwind extrovert. The opening hour is acrimoniously divorced from reality, reaching a ludicrous crescendo with a motel room threesome, which makes the second half, laced with heart-tugging sentiment, exceedingly hard to swallow.

Rating: ***

Also released

Arbitrage (Cert 15, 102 mins, Koch Media, Thriller/Romance, also available to buy DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £19.99 - see below)

The Assassination (Cert 15, 89 mins, Signature Entertainment, Comedy/Romance/Thriller, also available to buy DVD £14.99/Blu-ray £19.99 - see below)

Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away (Cert PG, 91 mins, Paramount Home Entertainment, Fantasy/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99/3D Blu-ray £29.99 - see below)

Flying Blind (Cert 15, 89 mins, Soda Pictures, Drama/Romance, also available to buy DVD £17.99 - see below)

New to buy on DVD/Blu-ray

Nashville - Complete Second One (Cert 12, 861 mins, Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK Ltd, DVD £34.99, Drama/Musical/Romance)

Two divas vie for control of the charts in the award-winning drama set in the capital of country music. Forty-year-old superstar Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton) recognizes that her star is beginning to fade when sales of her most recent album plummet. Her record label suggests that she appeals to a new audience by playing as the opening act on your for rising star Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere). Rayna dislikes Juliette's populist style of country music and dismisses the idea out of hand, while Juliette is equally opposed, given that she considers Rayna to be privileged. Plectrums are raised when the two women compete for the services of guitarist Deacon Claybourne (Charles Esten), who just happens to be Rayna's former lover. Complicating matters, Rayna must also contend with her husband Teddy (Eric Close) running for the office of mayor of Nashville with the backing of her rich and powerful father, Lamar Wyatt (Powers Boothe). The five-disc set includes all 21 episodes.

Arbitrage (Cert 15, 102 mins, Koch Media, DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £19.99, Thriller/Romance)

Richard Gere delivers one of the finest performances of his long and illustrious career in Nicholas Jarecki's taut drama about the corrupting influence of money. Multi-billionaire Robert Miller (Gere) is poised to sell his hedge fund and add to his vast profits. Unbeknown to all his friends and family, including his wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) and daughter Brooke (Brit Marling), Robert has massaged his accounts in order to avoid a lengthy spell in jail for fraud. Just when it seems like he might get away with his misdemeanour, Robert is involved in a car accident and kills his mistress Julie (Laetitia Casta). Determined to protect his reputation and ensure the sale of the hedge fund proceeds without delay, Robert calls on a shady acquaintance (Nate Parker) to help him cover up the crime, but a tenacious police detective (Tim Roth) is on his trail and is determined to secure a conviction.

Damages - The Complete Fifth Season (Cert 15, 507 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, DVD £34.99/The Complete Series DVD Box Set £69.99, Drama/Thriller)

The end is nigh for hotshot New York attorney Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) in the final 10 episodes of the award-winning legal drama from the creator of The Sopranos. Loosely inspired by the case of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, the fifth and final series pits Patty against her ambitious protegee Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) in a high-profile case involving a powerful whistle-blower. Computer expert Channing McClaren (Ryan Phillippe), who runs a website devoted to exposing government lies and cover-ups, is at the centre of the legal wrangling, testing Patty and Ellen's legal knowledge and resolve to the limit. A 15-disc box set comprising all five series is also available.

Doctor Who: Spearhead From Space (Cert U, 97 mins, BBC DVD, DVD £19.99, Sci-Fi/Drama)

The time lord and his companions first encounter deadly plastic mannequins called Autons in this four-part storyline, originally broadcast in January 1970. The newly regenerated Doctor (Jon Pertwee) is exiled to 20th century earth, heralding a shower of meteorites which old friend Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) believes will herald an alien invasion. At first, the Brigadier doubts the time lord, by virtue of his new appearance and personality, but the two eventually join forces to locate missing meteorites in the company of scientific advisor Dr Liz Shaw (Caroline John). The time traveller surmises that an extra-terrestrial race known as the Nestene has launched an attack on the unsuspecting human population and the second phase begins when Autons are unleashed.

Defiance - Season One (Cert 15, 840 mins, Universal/Playback, DVD £24.99/Blu-ray £29.99, Sci-Fi/Drama)

In the near future, an invading alien force called the Votans has decimated Earth. War raged for years but a ceasefire is now, thankfully, in effect, creating an uneasy truce between the extra-terrestrials and the humans. Lawman Joshua Nolan (Grant Bowler) returns to the ruins of his former hometown of St Louis, which is now known as Defiance, with his adopted alien daughter Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas). Joshua is determined to keep the warring faction apart and keep the peace in his frontier town, under the watchful eye of newly appointed mayor of Defiance, Amanda Rosewater (Julie Benz). The five-disc set includes all 12 episodes.

Fire In The Night (Cert E, 89 mins, Soda Pictures, DVD £17.99, Documentary)

On July 6, 1988, the world watched in horror as news cameras relayed horrifying images of fires on the Piper Alpha oil rig in the North Sea. Rescue vessels race to the scene but only 61 people survived the worst offshore oil disaster in history. Documentary filmmaker Anthony Wonke combines archival footage and audio recordings with present day interviews to recreate the horror of the disaster and make sense of the complex emotions of those who survived the inferno.

Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away (Cert PG, 91 mins, Paramount Home Entertainment, DVD £19.99/3D Blu-ray £29.99, Fantasy/Romance)

Founded in 1984 by street performers Guy Laliberte and Gilles Ste-Croix, Cirque du Soleil has conquered the globe with a breathtaking array of acrobatics, clowning and speciality circus acts woven into visually arresting narratives. Director Andrew Adamson helms this feature film spectacular, which combines scenes from the seven shows running in 2011 in Las Vegas, hanging them around the story of a young woman named Mia who goes to a travelling circus and is plunged into a magical world were anything and everything is possible. Producer James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic) was involved in the use of eye-popping 3D, available exclusively on Blu-ray, to accentuate the artistry and elegance of the performers.

Flying Blind (Cert 15, 89 mins, Soda Pictures, DVD £17.99, Drama/Romance)

Love is blind to the dark secrets we all keep in Polish director Katarzyna Klimkiewicz's first feature. Frankie (Helen McCrory) is an aerospace engineer based in Bristol, who is a vital cog in the British military war effort, designing drones that can save lives on the ground. She is a control freak and puts her work ahead of personal relationships. By chance Frankie meets handsome French-Algerian student Kahil (Najib Oudghiri) and they embark on a passionate affair. For once in her life, Frankie loses control and she loves the sense of helplessness as she falls head over heels in love with Kahil. Then one day at work, security services detain her and begin a brutal interrogation about the new man in her life. Frankie realises that she knows very little about Kahil and his past and as she probes deeper, the aerospace engineer becomes embroiled in a living nightmare.

The Assassination (Cert 15, 89 mins, Signature Entertainment, DVD £14.99/Blu-ray £19.99, Comedy/Romance/Thriller)

Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson) is a reporter on his high school newspaper but he is yet to write a story that will get him noticed. When some SAT exam papers go missing, Principal Kirkpatrick (Bruce Willis) asks Bobby to investigate and the teenager gladly accepts his assignment, gradually unravelling a conspiracy at St Donovan's involving the powerful school president. As Bobby digs deeper, he puts himself in jeopardy but also catches the eye of Francesca (Mischa Barton), the most beautiful and popular girl at school.

Walt Disney's Vintage Mickey (Cert U, 64 mins, Disney DVD, DVD £7.99, Animation)

Created by Walt Disney in 1928, Mickey Mouse has become synonymous with the award-winning animator and his company. This compilation brings together nine early shorts released between 1928 and 1934, featuring the enduringly popular character and his sweetheart Minnie Mouse (both voiced by Disney) including Steamboat Willie, Plane Crazy, The Karnival Kid, The Birthday Party, The Castaway, Mickey's Orphans, Mickey's Revue, Building A Building and Mickey's Steam-Roller.

Static (Cert 15, 80 mins, Second Sight, DVD £15.99, Thriller/Romance)

Jonathan Dade (Milo Ventimiglia) is a novelist, who recently lost his three-year-old son in a drowning accident. His wife Addie (Sarah Shahi) is consumed with grief and the couple attempt to piece their life back together by retreating to their remote home. Out of the blue, the Dades open the door to a pretty stranger called Rachel (Sara Paxton), who explains that she broke down in her car and attempted to change her flat tyre, only to be attacked and chased by men in masks. Jonathan and Addie offer Rachel sanctuary for the night but when the very same men in masks emerge from the darkness and besiege their home, the couple soon regret their generosity.

Cake Boss - Season Two (Cert E, 390 mins, Go Entertain, DVD £19.99, Special Interest)

Another 18 episodes of the popular reality TV series, which follows acclaimed baker Buddy Valastro, owner of Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, New Jersey, as he attempts to raise the shops profile while producing more than 300 cakes every week including the special designs for which Valastro has become renowned. This series, Valastro crafts a moving robot cake, he challenges his father-in-law to a pizza-making contest and Buddy and his trusted pastry chef Mauro take their families to Walt Disney World or order to participate in the annual Epcot Food And Wine Festival.

Terror At Lost Lake (Cert 15, 81 mins, High Fliers Video Distribution, DVD £12.99, Horror/Thriller)

A young couple faces a terrifying battle for survival in writer-director Marcus Nash's nail-biting horror. When Vern (Ezra Buzzington) disappears during a ghost hunting expedition in the desert, his resourceful niece Tricia (Katie Keene) and her boyfriend Jeff (John Shartzer) lead the search. Eventually, the lovebirds track down Vern but finding Tricia's missing relative is just the start of their problems because Tricia and Jeff realise their lives are in grave danger in the wilderness.

The Realm (Cert 15, 88 mins, Signature Entertainment, DVD £14.99, Horror/Thriller)

Israel Luna writes and directs this largely improvised, low budget horror, which proves you should never mess with forces beyond your control. Five friends decide to record sessions with an Ouija board and then post these viral videos for others to enjoy. The pals become engrossed in their otherworldly dabbling and they forget to follow the rules, keeping a portal to the spirit world open as tensions rise within the group, leading to fierce arguments and ultimately shocking violence.

DVD retail top 10

1 (1) Despicable Me

2 (8) Oz the Great and the Powerful

3 (2) Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred

4 (4) Les Miserables

5 (-) Cloud Atlas

6 (0) Dexter - Season 7

7 (-) Wreck-It-Ralph

8 (10) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

9 (-) Pitch Perfect

10 (7) Game of Thrones - Season 2

Chart supplied by Amazon.co.uk

DVD rental top 10

1 (-) Life of Pi

2 (4) Django Unchained

3 (-) Hansel and Gretel - Witch Hunters

4 (1) The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey

5 (3) Flight

6 (2) Argo

7 (-) Oz the Great and Powerful

8 (-) Broken City

9 (6) Wreck-It Ralph

10 (-) Warm Bodies

Chart supplied by www.LOVEFiLM.com

Film streaming top 10

1 (1) Fast Five

2 (1) Hanna

3 (3) Bad Teacher

4 (4) Hop

5 (5) Just Go With It

6 (6) Sex and the City

7 (7) Ratatouille

8 (8) Rampage

9 (9) The Pacifier

10 (10) Big Mommas - Like Father, Like Son

Chart supplied by www.LOVEFiLM.com