Actors: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener, Wallace Shawn, Anne Sofie von Otter
Directors: Yaron Zilberman
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Run Time: 105 minutes
Film: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 1 out of 5 stars
When I saw the cast for this film I was immediately drawn. I mean you’ve got both Academy Award Winners Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who are absolutely brilliant in this film. They have also had very strong years with “Seven Psychopaths” and “The Master”, respectively. Also Academy Award Nominee Catherine Keener takes the stage with force. The film is very powerful and packs an intense passion of music. I am a sucker for anything when it comes to music. Something about it really speaks to me…maybe it is my yearning to be a musician myself. Well if you are looking for a great piece that you probably missed in it brief theatrical release, I would recommend giving this a watch for sure.
Official Premise: After 25 years together, the members of a world-renowned string quartet learn that their beloved cellist (Walken) may soon be forced to retire. But the news stirs up equally painful challenges when competing egos, harbored resentment, and irrepressible lust threaten to derail the group as they struggle to maintain harmony in their music – and their lives.
20th Century Fox has delivered a nice Blu-ray presentation on this release. It is just a sngle disc Blu-ray no DVD combo. The 1080p looks very crisp and sharp, within its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Since the film is about music, I was really hoping for a smashing audio track and it was delivered here with its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Works well with both the dialogue heavy scenes and the music as well. The special features is where this release fails. There is only one short featurette called “Discord and Harmony”. I would have loved to seen a commentary track with the director and this wonderful cast.
