‘Greed’ (2019) Blu-Ray Review – Overly Ambitious Satire Is Held Up By Steve Coogan

Greed tells the story of self-made British billionaire Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan), whose retail empire is in crisis. For 30 years he has ruled the world of retail fashion – bringing the high street to the catwalk and the catwalk to the high street – but after a damaging public inquiry, his image is tarnished. To save his reputation, he decides to bounce back with a highly publicized and extravagant party celebrating his 60th birthday on the Greek island of Mykonos. A satire on the grotesque inequality of wealth in the fashion industry, the film sees McCreadie’s rise and fall through the eyes of his biographer, Nick (David Mitchell).

For in-depth thoughts on Greed, please see my colleague Dom Fisher’s review from its original theatrical release here. 

Video Quality

Greed comes to Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation in the original 2.39:1 that is very lovely. The film has a bright, natural color palette on display with the sumptuous environments radiating off the screen along with some flashy costumes. The skin tones look very detailed and natural to their intended sun-tanned effect. Highlights are handled beautifully, along with deep blacks that do not appear to suffer from much in the way of compression artifacts. This is a carefully composed film with many shots where you can see an incredible amount of detail and texture in the locales, production design and clothing. There are no obvious signs of any noise, but a couple of digital nuisances such as posterization pop up in fleeting moments. This presentation offers a fine presentation for audiences. 

Audio Quality

The film comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original English that executes every sonic needs of the film effortlessly. The soundtrack immerses the room in a really wonderful way that settles you right into the mood of the story. Activity in the low end is not a major factor outside of the music, but what is there adds texture to the proceedings. Dialogue comes through clearly without being overshadowed by any of the other sounds. Environmental effects inject the film with a sense of vibrancy which this track handles with precision. The use of the rear channels to create a three dimensional experience works quite well. The directionality is accurate so sounds always present as natural when coming from their respective points. Sony has delivered a rock solid track for the film. There are optional English, English SDH and French subtitles provided. 

Special Features

• Behind The Scenes Vignette: A two-minute featurette which briefly touches on the making of the film, the creative collaborations, the location shooting and more. 

• Deleted Scene: A five-minute unused sequence is provided here. 

• Theatrical Trailer: The two-and-a-half minute trailer is provided here. 

• Previews

Final Thoughts

Greed is an ambitious satire which knows what target it wants to hit, but it is one that oftentimes finds itself unable to focus long enough to hit it. When the movie is firing on all cylinders, the movie is deliciously cutting and clever. Steve Coogan knows how to play this role like a finely tuned instrument, and his performance is the best reason to invest in this one. Yet, the movie occasionally gets lost in its intention with so many angles they want to approach with not enough might to make it count. The remainder of the ensemble are pretty capable, but Coogan does not have a sparring partner that is up to his level. The movie is entertaining, but it needed another pass on the script to make it sing. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with a really good A/V presentation and a couple of brief special features. If you are a Steve Coogan fan, this one is still very much worth a watch. Recommended 

Greed can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or through various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.