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Released By: Olive Films
Released On: March 24, 2015.
Director: Peter Masterson
Cast: James Earl Jones, Robert Duvall, Lukas Haas
Year: 1991
The Film:
Good news....if you've ever wanted to bring back that crazy drunk racist grandfather that nobody in the family liked...in film format...it's been done for you. Based on the written words of playwright Horton Foote, 1991's Convicts takes place in Texas at the turn of the 20th century, with Robert Duvall playing plantation owner Soll Gauthier. Slowly losing his mind (most likely due to the massive volume of alcohol he's consuming) Soll is also losing control of his barnful of convict employee slaves, all of his money, and any respect that he had from his days as a more successful man.
The flip side of Soll's coin is 13 year-old Horace (Lukas Haas) who has come to work for Soll to earn some money to put a tombstone on his dead Daddy's grave. While Soll may be scary and unapproachable, Lukas finds comfort in the kind housekeepers, Martha and Ben (James Earl Jones), who take a liking to the boy and watch out for him. That's not really any help to Horace's financial cause, though, as Soll seems determined to not pay anyone anything that they're owed. As a matter of fact, Soll's main concerns in life are getting loaded, shooting at imaginary escaped convicts, and rambling about the good old days when he shot a convict hiding in his bedroom closet.
As Horace does what he can to get closer to the convict slaves, people more in line with him on the social scale, he also gets closer to Soll, who is experiencing a drunken breakdown of sorts. Trying to learn about the man won't be easy, and it's going to be even harder to get the twelve dollars he's owed, especially since Soll can't stay grounded in reality for more than five minutes.
And...that's really all there is to Convicts. It is a painful watch. It is boring. It is a 20-minute short story stretched to 90 minutes. Let's talk about what makes it so wretched. First off, it's obvious that this was based on a play. So many moments during the film lend themselves to the stage....long, rambling dialogue, exaggerated movements...but not to film. Robert Duvall may think that this is the role he was born to play, where he's going to get 98% of the screen time playing an old man, but he's not engaging or convincing. He's annoying, repetitive, annoying, and repetitive.
Convicts is 90 minutes of Duvall saying "Goddammit", throwing out racial slurs, shooting at things, pointing guns at people, talking about convicts in the closet, asking for people's story, asking them to repeat it, asking them to repeat it, asking them to repeat it. I really wish that there was more to say about it. It's a frustrating thing to watch. Haas adds nothing to the picture. James Earl Jones is onscreen for less than 10 minutes. There are drunk relatives who show up at the beginning of the film, fall all over the screen, and serve no purpose for the rest of the story. The direction is boring and lifeless, focusing only on Duvall's ridiculous character arguing with people for 90 minutes.
It's been awhile since I've gotten angry watching a bad film. Thanks, Convicts.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Olive brings Convicts to blu-ray in a 1.78:1 transfer that looks good. There are no issues to speak of, and despite the fact that it looks like a made-for-TV movie shot on film, the quality is alright. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is perfect for listening to Robert Duvall ask the same thing over and over again, with no hisses or pops. There's not much else going on here, and the dialogue is audible and clear.
There is a trailer included as well, that somehow manages to be worse than the film.
The Final Word:
I have no idea why anyone would want this film released. It is a total waste of time that will probably make you mad. If you like the movie, this is a fine way to see it.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
