Film Credits

Screenplay by: Donald E. Westlake

Directed by: Stephen Frears

Starring: Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, Annette Bening, Pat Hingle, Henry Jones, Michael Laskin, Eddie Jones, J.T. Walsh, Charles Napier, Stephen Tobolowsky, Sandy Baron, Gailard Sartain, Martin Scorsese

Review

As is evidenced by their laserdisc release of The Grifters, it's obvious that the folks at HBO Home Video still don't have a clue as to the potential of the laserdisc format. How can I say such a thing, you might ask? Because their transfer of The Grifters looks like the sort of transfer that most companies abolished several years earlier.

Although The Grifters contains a few fairly decent-looking moments, the image is grainy more often than not and has a very unnatural color scheme. Fleshtones tend to be too pinkish, and everything else gets a greenish tinge. I also noticed some video noise problems on side two, as well as some pressing-related speckles (at least on my copy). Another annoying thing about the transfer is that although the opening credits have been windowboxed on all four sides to preserve the film's original 1.66:1 Spherical Panavision aspect ratio, the remainder of the film has been cropped - thanks, HBO, for the reminder that we're only seeing "some" of the intended picture composition. For the last atrocity, HBO placed an "end of side" marker on the end of side one, consisting of a still frame from the opening title sequence, the words "The Grifters" (in case you forgot which film you were watching) and "end of side 1" (as if you didn't realize the side was over). If that wasn't enough, HBO also starts out side two with the same annoying still frame, only with the words "Part 2" tacked on this time around. For all the deficiencies of the picture transfer, the audio transfer is extremely good - the CX-encoded digital Dolby surround stereo soundtrack features a neat score by Elmer Bernstein that is well worth turning up. The Grifters was pressed at Pioneer and contains 23 unlisted chapter markers.

What makes the transfer even more frustrating is that fact that The Grifters is such a mesmerizing thriller. Featuring three outstanding performances by leads John Cusack, Anjelica Huston and Annette Bening, the film takes a harsh, grim look at three ruthless, high-stakes con-artists and their extremely volatile relationship they have with each another. The film's excessively cold atmosphere may put off some people, but those of you who stick through it should find it a rewarding experience.