Pawn is loaded with familiar names and actors that have taken on a different angle on characters we’ve grown used to seeing. Stephen Lang appears in the background as the proprietor of a local diner. He is affected with a limp and has trouble getting around – which is quite the difference from a person who has been cast historically as tougher-than-nails. Forrest Whitaker has a cameo as police officer who appears to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Common is the lead negotiator for the police department but might not be running the show. Marton Csokas plays an officer who might be on both sides of the law. Ray Liotta is the enforcer, or maybe the head of a crime organization. Michael Chiklis uses his best menacing face and intimidating body language to carry a trio of thugs who have gotten into something that might be a bit bigger than they thought it would be (and convincingly adopted a heavy British accent for his role), but is a simple man who has simple goals – at least that’s what we are lead to believe.

The female leads are not the strongest characters in the movie, and probably couldn’t have been anyway, given the number of male leads in this movie that dominate the screen time.

Pawn, if you boil it down, is a heist movie. However, it follows an event at many different angles that occurs in a diner and that diner is owned by a person that might have something to hide – an object which becomes a central plot point. Without giving too much away, the movie also plays with an unconventional timeline. It uses the point of view of some of the main characters, and then flashes back at opportune times to tell more of a certain story line or event. This lends itself to a unique take on the way the characters and back story is presented at different times.

There are some plot twists and turns that don’t keep you guessing, but do make the movie more interesting at it’s core and for a lower budget film, it provides a satisfying amount of action more attributed to the actors than to the high cost of big explosions to keep the audience going.

With the transfer being 1080p AVC, I could not see many faults with the video. Given that most of the movie takes place at night, there is an intentional oversaturation of day time colors, to also obscure the detail based on the point of view of the some of the characters it never felt overbearing or over used. Anchor Bay has given the audience a very solid transfer to view.

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 provides a subtle audio track for the heavy dialogue film. Much of the action is built via tension and the build up to the final scenes. There is some gun play, but the sound is mixed more like a drama and less like an action shoot them up films – not really giving your subwoofer much of a chance to flex it’s muscles. As some action takes place in the side or the background, other channels like the front speakers (besides the center) do occasional get into the mix.

Overall, a very solid mix for this type of movie.

The only special feature on this release is the “Behind the Scenes” documentary, where a number of cast and crew
are interviewed about how this movie was made and the process in which they approached their characters.

Edition Ratings
Rated R

Disc Details
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set including 1 BD and 1 DVD
DVD copy

Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4

Audio
Dolby TrueHD 5.1

Subtitles
English
Spanish

Region A only