Suburbicon [Blu-Ray]

Director: George Clooney

Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac

Release Date: February 6, 2018

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 8/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

The idyllic town of Suburbicon is the perfect place for Gardner Lodge (Academy Award® winner Matt Damon*) to make a home. But beneath this tranquil surface lies a disturbing reality, where nothing is as it seems.  When a break-in leads to the shocking murder of his wife, Gardner must navigate the town’s underbelly of deceit and violence to protect his family from further harm.

Welcome to ‘Suburbicon’, a bright, welcoming place that most families would be thrilled to call home. For Gardner Lodge (Damon) and his family Suburbicon was precisely that, at least until a terrifying robbery results in the murder of his wife. Now, Gardner must leap out of his comfort zone and delve into the gloomy underside of his peaceful community as he embarks on a twisted mystery that quickly evolves into something truly unexpected; while Gardner’s son also finds himself unable to ignore some mysterious coincidences and embarks on his own quest for the truth in this pitch black comedy unlike anything you’ve recently experienced.

Directed by George Clooney (The Monuments Men, The Ides of March) from a screenplay originally written years ago by the Coen Brothers (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen) and partially rewritten by Clooney and his regular collaborator Grant Heslov (The Ides of March), Clooney does a spectacular job at the helm of ‘Suburbicon’ guiding this twisted little dark comedy around each shocking turn. The film also owes plenty of credit to the talented folks that comprise the cast including Matt Damon (Downsizing), Julianne Moore (Kingsman: The Golden Circle), Noah Jupe (Wonder) and Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) along with more, the majority delivering more than capable performances in each of their respective roles.

‘Suburbicon’ is a bright, stylish film brimming with warm, inviting colors always on prominent display which are perfectly contradicted by a twisted tale and a wickedly dark sense of humor that molds into something delightfully demented and immensely enjoyable. It unabashedly embraces its menacing sense of humor and takes viewers along on an unexpected journey filled with twists and turns which all accumulate to a clever and hilariously nasty conclusion that can’t help but leave you grinning in its peculiar and perfectly fitting tone. It’s always a bit strange to see a film so visually pleasant and welcoming on the surface and yet so thoroughly demented underneath and while that factor alone is sure to deter some, others are liable to have a ridiculous amount of fun with this twisted good time. It may not be a perfect film, but it’s far from the horrid mess many claim it to be. Director George Clooney does a wonderful job guiding the tale along its gorgeous course and his capable guidance is only further boosted by a talented cast led by Matt Damon. I would definitely encourage anyone that enjoys a pitch black comedy that isn’t afraid to go all out to try and give ‘Suburbicon’ a shot when you have the chance, it’s a wonderfully deranged and wildly fun little ride with plenty of style that should be well worth a watch for anyone already the slightest bit intrigued.

Overall, ‘Suburbicon’ is a surprisingly dark, twisted and richly detailed comedy with a pitch black sense of humor, introducing viewers to a seemingly happy and trouble-free environment and taking things in a drastically different direction; imagine your favorite 50s or 60s era sitcoms gone horribly wrong. For those able to embrace the disturbing fun it ends up providing a delightfully dark and wild tale that’s consistently odd and equally fun. ‘Suburbicon’ is definitely recommended, and while many folks probably won’t have any interest in this unabashedly twisted comedy that is in many ways far from what it may initially appear, for those that enjoy an unapologetically demented good time sporting no shortage of style and laughs ‘Suburbicon’ is likely right up your alley and one you’ll want to make a point of checking out when possible.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Suburbicon’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks marvelous as a whole and delivers a sharp, clean and beautifully colored presentation from start to finish, with no noticeable faults to be found throughout. It holds up perfectly even during the darkly lit sequences, never causing anything that might be occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a spectacular high definition video presentation from Paramount sporting a more than adequate bitrate and shouldn’t disappoint.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack offers a crisp, clean and occasionally somewhat aggressive audio presentation throughout. It takes advantage of all five available channels in order to send the perfectly fitting music, along with some action related audio effects, crowd activity and more throughout the various speakers when appropriate, and never resulting in any dialogue or other audio elements that may be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible in the process. Overall, this is a solid 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that delivers in every way required of it and compliments the film splendidly.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Suburbicon’ includes a few solid extras. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with George Clooney and Grant Heslov’, in addition to some Behind the Scenes Featurettes that feature interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are: ‘Welcome to Suburbicon’ (running approximately 30 minutes in length), ‘The Unusual Suspects: Casting’ (running approximately 13 minutes) and ‘Scoring Suburbicon’ (approximately 8 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

Film Rating: 8/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

‘Suburbicon’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD from Paramount Home Media Distribution

You can purchase your copy of ‘Suburbicon’ by clicking on the Amazon Cart Icon immediately below!