Undercover Blues
|
List Price: Our Price: $7.21 You Save: $7.77 (52%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $7.15 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Undercover Blues
Movie Review: Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
We have enjoyed renting this movie over the years. Stanley Tucci steals the show!Movie Review: good comedy
Summary: 5 Stars
verry funny movie. it had some flat spots but over all a verry good comedy.Movie Review: "My name... is Muerte!"
Summary: 4 Stars
Take Kathleen Turner's sex appeal and Dennis Quaid's roguish grin, then Stanley Tucci's hilarious turn and the sheer enchanting cuteness of the baby, and, okay, the movie's premise - and what you get are the saving graces of UNDERCOVER BLUES. It's an interesting take, what this movie's going for. In pairing up Quaid and Turner - both of whom have dialed up the charm - the flick strives for that witty, urbane Nick & Nora Charles chemistry. And your buying into it (or not) depends on whether you can keep in mind that UNDERCOVER BLUES is intentionally shooting for farce, and not so much with the believability.
Just a reminder that before Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt brought the sexy to the beautiful but deadly married couple thing in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Widescreen Edition), Kathleen Turner and Dennis Quaid were there first. Jeff and Jane Blue are American secret agents who are holidaying in New Orleans, on an 18-month leave from the espionage game and cooing over their months-old baby daughter. But the Blues are called back into action when an old adversary gets her hands on a supersecret plastic explosive device, and I kind of dig that they take on the mission, not out of some sense of patriotism, but for bonus pay and an extended maternity leave. Toss in two persistent but out-of-their league New Orleans cops who suss out that there's something peculiar about the Blues and also a bumbling petty thief brandishing a disproportionately grandiose demeanor and who keeps trying to take out Jeff Blue, and it's still not enough to make our deliriously happy, ultra-competent couple work up a sweat.
I think that Turner and Quaid play off each other beautifully, despite that there isn't much character depth or development and that the repartee given isn't as sparkling as the writers of the screenplay would have you think. But the easy-going appeal of the leads pushes aside those shortcomings. This is the sort of film which lets you know early on that there's no need to get concerned about the protagonists. There's not a lot here that's entrenched in reality. No one dies, or no one important anyway. The tone here is so determinedly breezy and arched that whatever potential gravitas there is is rendered inconsequential. There's only one scene, really, in which the Blues' unflappability wavers, and then it's only a fleeting moment (and, as it turns out, part of the plan).
- Stanley Tucci's character, about to mug Jeff Blue: "My name... is Muerte!"
- Jeff Blue: "I'm pleased to meet you, Morty. My name is Jeff."
There's a peppering of familiar faces, but Stanley Tucci easily stands out from the crowd. Tucci's talent for physical comedy (which I didn't know he had) is on full display here. Tucci's character, that poor sap, in dogged pursuit of payback, just keeps on taking his lumps. But the howlingly funny parts simply have to be whenever he lets out that girly squeal. Some of the sorry stuff that happens to him, it reminds me of what those crooks in HOME ALONE went thru. Saul Rubinek and an underused Tom Arnold also pop up, as does an extremely annoying and lispy Larry Miller.
Some of the comedy works; there are some pretty good one-liners. Tucci, as mentioned, is hilarious. I bought into Quaid and Turner as two secret agents in love, and they have the physicality and athleticism to pull off the action sequences. As for the Blues' constant sheer disregard for all possible threats and the fact that they persist in bringing their baby along in their investigations, I did have to remind myself a time or two that, hey, this is meant to be a farce and not a serious thriller grounded in reality. Going back to one element in the six Thin Man whodunit films, Nick and Nora Charles in many of their scenes together acted as if no else in the room mattered, partly because they were so in love and partly because the supporting character seemed interchangeable (the cops, the villains, the suspects) and so weren't worth taking seriously. Turner and Quaid affect this same obliviousness, and their nonchalance is so marked that at times there's a chance of a disconnect between the film and the viewer. So, keep in mind - farce.
Movie Review: Entertaining and fun movie
Summary: 4 Stars
This would have be one of the most under rated movies in Kathleen Turner or Dennis Quaid's movie lists. You rarely see this movie mentioned by them or by people who write about them. But yet, this small movie proves to be highly entertaining, fun to watch and I enjoyed the rapport between the two leads.
You can probably classified this as "action comedy" movie and both plays a huge part in making it work. Stanley Tucci who played the local thug virtually steal the movie whenever he appears, often playing the fall guy in each and every occasion. Unlike the previous reviewer, I thought there was pretty good chemisty between Turner and Quaid and they played up to their "happily married couple" routine very nicely. Both played a government super spies, on vacation but called back to duty to recovered some nasty high explosives. They are follow by Stanley Tucci who want revenge on them so badly that he ends up praying to God for assistence...that an irony of a scene. And couple of New Orleans' finest also trail them as well thinking they are up to no good. Its a fun, action packed movie as Quaid and Turner goes the movie being bit smug and all together very happy.
Well directed and well acted, the script isn't very good and the story can be considered bit weak. I mean what pair of New Orlean's police force have that much time trailing two person who basically haven't broken any law?? But overall, this is fun movie, its weaknesses can be overlooked because the movie is entertaining to watch.
The DVD issue of this movie was a so-so effort. The anamorphic widescreen image quality is decent but not exceptional. It also come with full screen option as well. No extras to speak of, only a movie trailer. The sound is basic stereo, no 5.1 DD or anything like that. Overall, a super basic DVD issue of this movie.
Movie Review: I Got a Right to Sing the Blues
Summary: 4 Stars
I love this movie, and it is with great reluctance that I'm rating the DVD with fewer than five stars. However, it seems that little work was done digitally mastering the film: there's a lot of grain and artifacting on the DVD (to be fair, the VHS doesn't look great either, but the blur of the tape reduces the grain in the image; on the DVD you get nice, crisp speckles and blotches). Basically this is a 5-star movie with 2-star production values, split the difference and round up, you get four stars.The plot provides a so-so post-Cold War backdrop for the actors to do their thing. There hasn't been such a breezy, fun-loving, crime-fighting couple since Nick and Nora Charles. Dennis Quaid's dazzling smile and cheeky attitude brighten up the film, and Kathleen Turner provides a street- and book-smart turn as the brains of the operation. Add in Larry Miller's supporting role as the lisping, soft-spoken Detective Sgt. Halsey (that'th eth-ee-why, not eth-why), Stanley Tucci's shrieking tough guy, Muerte, and Fiona Shaw's devilish Paulina Novacek and you've got ninety minutes of comedic gold.
Unfortunately, along with the straight-from-video transfer, no expense was spent in providing extras on the DVD. There are a handful of trailers and that's about it. The menu screens look good, but if you go to a restaurant and the best thing you can say about it is "nice menus," odds are you won't be eating there very often. That's a shame really, because this is a good movie that's getting a raw deal from poor packaging and a lousy transfer.
If a remastered version of this disc comes out - with or without all the bells and whistles in the bonus department - swoop on it without delay. In the meantime, VHS is actually your best bet: the film's flaws aren't as noticeable and you've been making allowances for such things for years now anyway.