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Released by: Twilight Time Releasing
Released on: May, 2014.
Director: Nick Love
Cast: Paul Anderson, Calum MacNab, Daniel Mays, Doug Allen, Joe Jackson
Year: 2009
Purchase From Screen Archives
The Movie:
The 2009 version of the film, directed by Nick Love and a remake of Alan Clarke's made for TV movie from 1989, introduces us to Dom (Calum McNab). He's a teenager living in 1980s England in a less than affluent part of town. He's a football (soccer, if you prefer) fan who meets and becomes fascinated with a man named Bex (Paul Anderson) who runs the West Ham United football firm, essentially a really rowdy fan club. As Dom becomes more and more intrigued by Bex's group, he is basically taken under the man's wing and becomes a part of the firm as the firm itself becomes more and more involved in incidents with other firms, the kind that tend to be increasingly violent.
While what is essentially a gang war develops, Dom has to keep up appearances at home. It's all going well for him, he's well liked with the group, but when he realizes things are going too far for his liking and he wants out, then it's a completely different story…
Love has crafted a slick looking film, a picture that does a good job of capturing the authenticity of its gritty locations, the colors of the teams that the firms support and the flair for the dramatic shown by so many of its colorful characters. It's a violent film, a funny film and a fast paced and frequently very exciting film and for these reasons it entertains, but it never offers the sort of depth of reasoning that Clarke's original picture did. There are moments where it feels like it's going to scratch beneath the surface and really explore why these self-absorbed and remarkably immature men do what they do - boredom, lashing out at society, unhappiness at home or the job - but it stops short of pulling that reasoning into the core of the storyline and as such, it can feel a little superficial at times.
The performances are solid here. Calum McNab is hard not to like, his character is quick witted and often very funny. We feel for him. He finds in the firm a sense of belonging and with his character a younger and more impressionable man than that of Bex, we can see how he might be swayed into doing things he could possibly regret. Likewise, Paul Anderson, while no Gary Oldman, steals most of the scenes that he's involved with. He's got a lot of enthusiasm and we can completely buy his dedication to the part he plays with such conviction. This makes it all the more of a disappointment then that the script never properly exploits their talents the way that it could and should have.
Regardless, the film goes at a good pace, offers up a few really nicely shot brawls and fight scenes and makes good use of a lot of period pop music (featuring bands like Soft Cell, The Rock Steady Crew and The Jam to name only a few) to offer up plenty of thrills. They're superficial thrills, mind you, but thrills just the same.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Firm arrives on Blu-ray in AVC encoded 2.35.1 widescreen in 1080p high definition. Detail and color reproduction are quite impressive here and offer noticeable and substantial upgrades over past DVD issues of the picture. Skin tones look lifelike and natural and there are no issues with any compression artifacts or smeary edge enhancement. Texture looks good and there's nice depth throughout. Black levels are nice and deep and all in all this has a very natural, film-like appearance.
The audio chores are handled by a very strong English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track, there are no alternate language options or subtitles provided. This is a very solid track with nice use made of the surround channels throughout playback. Levels stay balanced, the score and music used throughout are quite strong here and dialogue stays clean, clear and easy to follow (so long as you don't struggle with the accents as some might).
The best extra on the disc is an audio commentary with director Nick Love who is joined by actor Paul Anderson and technical consultant Lee Jackson to discuss the making of the film. Love talks about Clarke's original film, how he approached remaking it, the cast, crew and locations used in the picture and quite a bit more while Andersons talks up his character, his approach to the material and what it was like working with the cast and crew on the picture. Jackson gets his thoughts in when needed, offering some insight into the film's attempts at realism and accuracy. It's a good talk, quite thorough and almost entirely devoid of 'dead air.'
The disc also includes a twenty-three minute featurette entitled The Making Of The Firm that includes input from the three commentary participants as well as a few other cast and crew members. It's a good mix of behind the scenes footage and talking head interview clips that shows off what went into making the picture and what it was like working on it. Also on hand is a collection of Deleted And Alternate Scenes (just over six minutes of material here) and a six and a half minute featurette called Anatomy Of The Fights that, as you could probably guess, takes a look at the stunts and fight choreography showcased in the film.
Also included on the disc is an isolated music and effects track in DTS-HD, the film's original theatrical trailer, menus and chapter selection. Inside the disc is a color insert booklet containing liner notes from Julie Kirgo that also include some promotional artwork and which do a nice job of discussing the merits and effectiveness of the picture and its cast.
The Final Word:
Nick Love's take on The Firm isn't Alan Clarke's take on The Firm but if it were, that'd be kind of pointless, right? The original remains the best version of the material but this 2009 remake is a solid film in its own right and it if it isn't as cerebrally intriguing as the original, it's fast paced and exciting entertainment. Twilight Time's Blu-ray is a good one, offering up the film in great shape with strong audio and a nice array of extra features.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
