[wp-review id=”73643″]
Agent Joe Merriweather and his partner Agent Katherine Cowles have been working on a murder case that they think is beginning to go cold. Joe has no choice but to get the help of his clairvoyant friend John Clancy to track the killer. John is reluctant but he agrees when the killer reveals that he expected Joe to recruit his help. As they find that the murders are beginning to relate to each other, they also discover that the killer has the same abilities as John and this makes him even more dangerous.
SOLACE is directed by Afonso Poyart and is written by Sean Bailey & Ted Griffin. The cast has been chosen well and looks like they work comfortably in their roles. Jeffery Dean Morgan has been best known as the psychotic Neagan on THE WALKING DEAD but he does have good acting range where he can play a compassionate person like in this film. He isn’t in it as much as I had hoped but, to be fair, he isn’t on the top billing. Anthony Hopkins plays the emotionally tortured John with an uncontrollable sensitivity to his psychic abilities. He can get the feelings from practically anything his senses deem worthy. It humbles the character and makes him connect with some of the minor roles such as Joe’s family.
This is an enjoyable film but they do go a little hard with the whole psychic element of the story. Their abilities are almost like something you would see in a comic book movie rather than a crime thriller. IMDb lists it in the “crime, drama, mystery” genres but I think adding “supernatural” would’ve been a little more accurate. If it was toned down a little or consistent through the whole movie, I don’t feel like the end would’ve been as jolting.
Cast
Anthony Hopkins – John Clancy
Colin Farrell – Charles Ambrose
Jeffrey Dean Morgan – Agent Joe Merriweather
Abbie Cornish – Agent Katherine Cowles
VIDEO QUALITY:
The transfer is a 1080p AVC presentation and, as whole, looks pretty good. There is a lot shaky cam work and some of the images are framed in an odd way, making screenshots a bit harder to do than usual. The skin tones are natural and, at times, appear to be on the cooler side. This also applies to the coloring in general but it has no effect on some of the brighter, outdoor scenes. The details are sharp and very clean. Some of the really close-up shots show facial lines and imperfections perfectly. There is a bit of detail loss is the lower-lit scenes but nothing too bad or distracting.
AUDIO QUALITY:
The audio is a DTS HD-MA 5.1 mix that utilizes the home theater well. The dialogue is clear and well layered over the music as well as the effects. While the film is mostly driven by dialogue through the center speaker, there are the flashes of sound in the rest of the speakers. These moments are when John has his “visions” and there is a jumble of voices, exaggerated sounds, and sometimes-even music filling the sound field. This is where the sound engineers really show off their talents and the audio is clean.
SUPPLEMENTS & PACKAGING
-Audio Commentary: with Director Afonso Poyart
-Visions and Voices: The Making of SOLACE: This is a featurette with some cast and crew interviews about the film.
-Trailer
Disc Details
1 Blu-ray Disc
Digital copy
slipcover in first pressing
Running Time
101 mins
Edition Ratings
Rated R
Region Coding
Region A
Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 2.41:1
Audio Mixes
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles
English
English SDH
Spanish
THE BOTTOM LINE:
As I mentioned, to try and place SOLACE into one genre would be impossible. To cover all of its bases, it would be called a crime-drama-supernatural-thriller and it has a strong line-up of actors on the billing. I wasn’t completely sold on the third act but that doesn’t drag down the film entirely. It does, however, change the tone late in the game. I enjoyed Hopkins in the role and its good to see him in this kind of role where he is a man that wants to help. The Blu-ray looks good and the sound has definitely has its high points. As for the extras, they’re the run of the mill but I feel like they fit for the film. I would say give this a rent it before picking it up.
