Enduring Love claims to be a psychological thriller, but comes across as more of a drama then a thriller. The story moves along quite slowly and the overall tone of the film is somewhat dry. The story does take a few interesting turns, and does keep you guessing at times, the story was not suspenseful enough to keep my eyes peeled to the screen for the span of the film.
One thing I can say about this film is that the story is different than anything that I have seen before. It touches upon some od… yet creative human elements, and the acting is quite good. Here is the stories synopsis provided by Paramount… “Joe (Daniel Craig, Road to Perdition) is an accomplished writer and professor whose rational life is thrust into a downward spiral of guilt after witnessing a freak, fatal ballooning accident while picnicking with girlfriend Claire (Samantha Morton, Minority Report). Jed (Rhys Ifans, Notting Hill), another man involved in that fateful day, seeks out Joe looking for consolidation and a way to make sense of this tragedy they’ve both witnessed. Jed soon becomes as inescapable to Joe as his guilt, and both men find themselves hurtling towards a final, terrifying choice driven by the destructive nature of obsession or the true endurance of love.”
Audio
I must say that I was very impressed with the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track included on this disc. From the whisps of the wing, to the rustle of the leaves, to the vroom of the cars, the sound movement is accurate and engulfing. The score is powerful, the soundstage is full of life, and the dialog is crisp. This may not be a reference disc for audio, but it sure does a darn good job of involving the listener in the feel of the story.
Video
The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer presented for Enduring Love was a little disappointing. The colors were accurate for the most part, but the image did seem washed out at times. There was also some noticeable grain, and even some visible scratches in the transfer. Even though this transfer is far from perfect, it did seem pretty clean in regards to digital artifacts, and the content of the film was not really affected by this discs video defects.
Special Features
It would have been interesting to get some further insight into this film through some featurettes, commentary and/or deleted scenes, but all we get here are a collection of trailers of Paramount DVD’s already released or soon to be released.
Final Thoughts
Is this a great film? Not really. Is it worth a watch? Sure. The story is interesting an different, and the acting performances are note worthy. This disc audio track is rather impressive, and the video is adequate. I would have loved a few extras… but that was not in the cards for this release.
Special Features List
- Trailers