BACKSTABBING FOR BEGINNERS Blu-ray Review

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Michael Soussan wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and work for the U.N. He gets a job working for a man named Pasha who thinks Michael will be perfect for the position. Pasha heads the programme called Oil-for-Food. Turns out, Pasha might not be the cleanest boss to be involved with this UN program.

BACKSTABBING FOR BEGINNERS is directed by Per Fly who also directed THE BENCH and THE INHERITANCE. The film is based on the memoirs of Michael Soussan and the real life events of the Oil-for-Food Programme scandal in the early 2000’s.

Cast
Theo James – Michael
Ben Kingsley – Pasha
Jacqueline Bisset – Christina
David Dencik – Rasnetsov
Belçim Bilgin – Nashim
Rachel Wilson – Lily
Rossif Sutherland – Trevor

VIDEO QUALITY:

The video is a 1080p AVC presentation that has a clean transfer. Aside from the archived footage, all of the images have incredibly clean lines. You can see it in the majority of what’s on screen due to there being a ton of close ups. So both facial lines and fabrics get a sharp look. The scenes in Baghdad have a warm, rich look and the scenes earlier in the movie run a bit cooler. The skin tones vary along with he warmth of the shot.

AUDIO QUALITY:

The audio is a English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. The sound is mainly in the front speakers with the center getting the heaviest use. There are seem moments where the surround sound kicks in to give some areas depth but these are few and far between. Mostly in wider, panning shots with ambient city or windy desert sounds. Dialogue is well prioritized but stronger than the effects.

SUPPLEMENTS & PACKAGING

-The Truth Behind BACKSTABBING FOR BEGINNERS: This extras goes over how the object was approached and initiated to make it to the big screen.

Disc Details
1 Blu-ray Disc
Digital Copy

Running Time
108 mins

Edition Ratings
Rated R

Region Coding
Region A

Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Audio Mixes
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles
English SDH
Spanish

THE BOTTOM LINE:

BACKSTABBING FOR BEGINNERS can be a little dry at times but Kingsley’s brash character is what keeps things moving. The Blu-ray has great video as well as a decent audio mix. There is only one extra on the disc and I always hope for more when a movie is based on a true story. I would say give this one a rent before you make a purchase unless you’re already a fan.

About the author

MEDIA JOURNALIST | Michael is a fanatic about all both cinema old and new. He collects anything from 1:6 Scale, 1:12 Scale, and vinyl Collectibles plus Slipcovers and Steelbooks. He loves pop culture, writing, reviewing films & collectibles, and journalism. An avid Batman, The Joker and anything comics junkie, he will also chat it up about pretty much anything. Go ahead and ask...