Hey, hey this is Ace on deck reviewing the Blu-Ray edition of
the 1989 independent classic film "Sex, Lies, and Videotape".
It was directed by Steven Soderbergh and starred James Spader,
Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, and Laura San Giacomo. The background
of the story is centered around Ann Bishop Mullany (Andie MacDowell)
whose husband John Mullany (Peter Gallagher), is a part of a big
law firm in New Orleans. John Mullany's big secret in the big
easy happens to be that he is having sex with his wife's sister
Cynthia Patrice Bishop (Laura San Giacomo). Everything with the
affair goes smooth until the monkey wrench who is Graham Dalton,
John's old friend, comes into the picture. Graham, who happens
to have an extreme fetish for sexual confessions, videotapes Cynthia.
She confesses that she was jealous of Ann and that she engaged
in the affair with John. This leaves Graham in a dilemma with
the secret of Sex, Lies, and Videotape.
Honestly, this was my first time viewing this movie and I must say I can see why the film got the praise it did - it's definitely classic. The acting was brilliant and well thought out and director Steven Soderbergh really nailed what he wanted to deliver with this film. James Spader's character eerily reminded me of Prince in Purple Rain, but this is a good thing because his character was weird and complex. Laura San Giacomo's character made you want to choke her for doing those malicious acts to her sister out of jealousy. Andie MacDowell played the innocent role so perfect that anything Gallagher or San Giacomo's character did make you hate them a little more. Peter Gallagher's character was evil to the core; you couldn't help but hate him. Everything through the movie flowed as perfect as a movie could get.
Audio: When I popped the disk into my Playstation 3, I was surprised to hear how clear and crisp the sound came from my television speakers. Every word and sound can clearly be heard and I didn't have to replay to get the point the characters were trying to make much like a good portion of DVD releases.
Video: The movie is ridiculously crisp to watch in Blu-Ray as well. Every detail on screen with the colors and saturation is clean and well detailed. There were times that I watched this movie and have mistaken it for something new instead of something that was released in 1989. A way to tell the clear difference comparing this current transfer with the original movie trailer to fully understand my point.
Extras: As far as the extras go, there is commentary from Steven Soderbergh, a reunion at the Sundance film festival, a deleted scene, the original promos, and a personal account from Soderbergh about the actors. Looking at the movie again with the commentary, I realized there were plenty of points that I wouldn't have noticed from my first viewing. You really need to watch this if you really, really care about the movie. The 20-year reunion at Sundance goes over accounts by Steven Soderbergh, Laura San Giacomo, Andie MacDowell, and Peter Gallagher about how the movie changed their careers. The deleted scene is basically what would have happened if Ann Bishop Mullany would have seen her therapist again, which I agreed is honestly unnecessary. Then there are the original trailers that were shown when the film originally aired. The one extra I found the most interesting was Soderbergh's honest accounts of the actors, which is worth a look.
Conclusion:
I must say I can see why this movie got the praise it did; "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" is definitely a classic and the extras alone makes this BD worth picking up; definitely worth the price of purchase. Out of TOV 5 stars, the film is a perfect 5.
