- Aspect Ratio: 2:40:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles: English and Spanish Subtitles
- Region: A (locked)
- Rating: R
- Run Time: 93 Mins.
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Anchor Bay Films
- Blu-ray Release Date: October 25th, 2011
- List Price: $29.99
[amazon-product]B005CA4SR4[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Father of Invention on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
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:4/5]
Kevin Spacey stars as Robert Axle a fabricator. By fabricator we essentially mean liar, but that’s not how Axle sees it. See Axle has earned his fame and fortune thanks to turning two common items, a night light and a humidifier, into a product everyone seemingly wants. Everything is perfect, money is flowing in…until…. a new invention causes his customers to lose a finger! Axle is sentenced to 8 years in federal prison. Upon dismissal, Axle goes to visit his daughter Claire (Camilla Belle). Initially Claire wants nothing to do with him, but ultimately decides to give him 30 days to make something of himself. Axle quickly loses his job at Family Mart after seeing that all of his products have a new spokesperson (John Stamos). It’s now that Axle realizes he needs to invent the newest, greatest fabrication. But at what cost will this goal be achieved? The end result is an entertaining film, one that certainly fell under my radar.
I’ll be completely honest when I say that before receiving Father of Invention, I had never heard of the movie. Granted I do try and pay attention to most movies coming out (at least trying to see what they’re about), but somehow this one fell under my watch. That’s a shame tho because while Invention isn’t exactly brand new material (reminds of Steve Martin’s film The Jerk), I still found myself entertained. Spacey and all of his co-stars play out their roles well, in particular I liked Knoxville’s brief role as his manager at Family Mart. Perhaps because I’m use to seeing Knoxville on Jackass, I found his ability to act endearing and, well, serious to be a nice trait. Almost something I would’ve never expected from him.
Story-wise, Father of Invention tells us that regardless of wealth and fame, family is the most important aspect of it all. Upon losing it all, Axle realizes money can’t replace the distance that’s grown between him and Claire. It takes him being almost at the absolute bottom of it all to see the mistakes he’s made and how he put his company above his daughter. I found that message to be one of the film’s strongest qualities; that and the solid supporting cast, all of which added up to make this one worth checking out.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The 1080p AVC MPEG-4 transfer found within is quite impressive. Of note has to be the film’s natural look. In particular, the color palette features bright yellows of taxi cabs or lush greens of the trees in the park. Darks are handled well as evidenced by some of the exterior night sequences at Claire’s mother’s house. Detail is strong and vibrant throughout, whether it be the vests of Family Mart employees or the varying suits worn towards the end of the film. No instance of noise or print damage. Grain levels are minimal at best never really becoming an issue. Overall this is a fine image, one that was certainly better than I had initially expected.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
The film features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Dialogue is well reproduced via the front channel. There isn’t much surround usage outside of occasional background dialogue during the party at Claire’s center or birds during the park sequence. Atmosphere is fine during moments that call for it, i.e. when a lot of characters are on screen. There just isn’t THAT much the track can offer. Perhaps this is due to the limitations of the film’s budget, but regardless what is presented suits the movie well.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
The supplements are quite limited:
- The Making of Father of Invention [SD] – Running 14:05, this is your run-of-the-mill making of featuring cast and crew interviews.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3/5]
Father of Invention is a solid film that shows that family, above all, is the most important thing in our lives. The Blu-ray features good video and audio, but no real features. I’d recommend this as a strong rental as this is one of those films that deserved a larger audience.
Additional Screen Captures
–
[amazon-product]B005CA4SR4[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Father of Invention on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
–
