- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Descriptive Audio Services Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish
- Rating: R
- Region: A
- Discs: 1
- Studio: Fox Searchlight
- Blu-ray Release Date: December 14, 2010
- List Price: $39.99
[amazon-product align=”right”]B0037QGRVA[/amazon-product]
Purchase Cyrus on Blu-ray at CD Universe
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Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
The filmmaking siblings Jay and Mark Duplass (Baghead) step out of the indie “Mumblecore” world and make inroads into the mainstream with their first real feature film, Cyrus. Too bad the marketing for this film is way off. The folks at Fox Searchlight, for whatever reason, felt the need to push Cyrus as some sort of oddball comedy, maybe because of its stars (John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill being two of the leads) or maybe because they just didn’t feel the actual content was mainstream enough. Whatever the case may be, the Duplass brothers maintain their indie sensibility in Cyrus with a film about unusual relationships and uncomfortable circumstances without ever batting an eye in judgment on their subjects.
The subject, in this case, is John (John C. Reilly) a seven-year divorcee whose life has been in a tailspin. John’s ex-wife and best friend Jamie (Catherine Keener) has just informed him that she’s remarrying and John is distraught. At her suggestion, John goes to a party and, much to everyone’s amazement, he actually meets a charming woman, Molly (Marisa Tomei). The two have an instant chemistry and their relationship takes off, but Molly is reluctant to move forward. Following Molly to her home, John discovers Molly’s 21-year-old son Cyrus (Jonah Hill). Jonah’s a home-schooled, socially inept electronica composer who has an extremely close relationship with his mom, and he’s not about to let John get in the way of that.
More a dramedy than an outright comedy or drama, the Duplass brothers craft a superbly quirky and uncomfortable relationship between Molly and Cyrus on the brink of what outsiders might fathom as incestuous, but when looking closer, is no more than extremely dysfunctional and co-dependent. Jonah Hill, when he’s not busy being the funny oddball in all those Judd Apatow flicks, can apparently channel that aura into just outright creepiness, making Cyrus an appropriately odd manchild.
Cyrus is a quality crafted character study that, although it has its flaws, maintains its “street cred” as an indie film and is worth watching for Marisa Tomei’s and John C. Reilly’s performances alone.
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
The 1.85:1 framed AVC/MPEG-4 1080p/24 encoding looks clean enough, as one would expect a recent vintage film to look, but the indie film aesthetic leaves details looking just a bit soft and flesh tones and textures a little on the waxy side. Otherwise, Cyrus looks decent, but it won’t be an awe-inspiring HD experience.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio is a very straightforward DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that barely utilizes the surround channels with some extremely low-level ambient effects. This is a front-heavy, dialogue-driven mix, which is thankfully clear and intelligible.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
There are a nice bit of featurettes on the disc that offer up interviews with the writers and cast members of Cyrus in addition to a couple of deleted scenes that do not add much to the film.
The supplements provided with this release are:
- Deleted Scenes (w/ Optional Introduction by Directors/Writers Jay and Mark Duplass) (1.78:1; 1080p/24) — Two deleted scenes.
- Q&A with Directors/Writers Jay and Mark Duplass (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:08.16)
- Music Mash Up with John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:03.39)
- Behind the Scenes at SXSW with Jay & Mark Duplass (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:03.18)
- Fox Movie Channel Presents: In Character with John C. Reilly (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:04.39)
- Fox Movie Channel Presents: In Character with Jonah Hill (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:03.15)
- Theatrical Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
- Live Extras
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
A entertaining comedy/drama about imperfect people and their dysfunctional lives, Cyrus shows up on Blu-ray in a solid HD transfer from Fox Searchlight. Recommended.
Additional Screen Captures:
[amazon-product align=”right”]B0037QGRVA[/amazon-product]
Purchase Cyrus on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
