Unemployed roughneck Bill Baker (Academy Award®-winner Matt Damon) travels from Oklahoma to Marseille to visit his estranged daughter Allison (Academy Award®-nominee Abigail Breslin). Imprisoned for a murder she claims she did not commit. Allison seizes on a new tip that could exonerate her and presses Bill to engage her legal team. But Bill, eager to prove his worth and regain his daughters trust, takes matters into his own hands. He is quickly stymied by language barriers, cultural differences, and a complicated legal system—until he meets French actress Virginie (Camille Cottin), mother to eight-year-old Maya (Lilou Siauvaud). Together, these unlikely allies embark on a journey of discovery, truth, love and liberation.
For more in-depth thoughts on Stillwater, please see my colleague Dom Fisher’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
Stillwater comes to Blu-Ray in a stunning 1080p presentation in its 1:85.1 OAR that truly wows in high definition. The clarity throughout is truly outstanding with subtle flourishes of the locations and clothing coming through crystal clear. Color saturation is great with the moody, cool color palette consistently represented throughout. Skin tones are natural with a lot of exposed skin covered in dust and sweat. The lush environments provide a lot of opportunity for fine detail in the location and production design. Black levels are pretty deep and do not fall victim to any noticeable digital noise or errors of the sort. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has provided a transfer up to the level of excellence you would want from a new release.
Audio Quality
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track provides a perfectly satisfying audio presentation. There is pretty consistent environmental activity in these densely populated, urban environments, which gives ample opportunity to engage the speakers. This film is not an all-out action fest, but there are some brief moments that give the track a bit of a punch when they do pop up. Dialogue comes through clearly and never gets stepped on by any sound effects or the score. All of the sounds have an accurate sense of direction within the mix with noises such as footsteps moving around the speakers in compelling ways. The low end is rarely put to the test throughout, opting to rather give subtle supplemental texture for the majority of the time. This mix is pleasingly immersive but not an all-out powerhouse. It gets the job done well enough.
Special Features
- An Alchemy Of Viewpoints: A five-minute featurette which explores the story, the characters and the performers who inhabit them, the costumes, the complexities of each role and more in this surface-level piece.
- An American In Marseilles – The Locations Of Stillwater: A three-minute look at the beautiful locations featured in the film and how it impacts the characters.
- With Curiosity & Compassion – Director Tom McCarthy: A three-minute piece which shines a light more on the man behind the camera and what specifically he brought to this story.
Final Thoughts
Stillwater has moments of true potency that really come alive, but just as often the film seems unsure of what it is trying to convey with this story. The focus and tone of the film is a bit too erratic to feel completely cohesive, but the performances from Damon and newcomer Lilou Siauvaud elevate the uneven material immensely. While the film is enjoyable for the most part, you know there is a better version of this story that could have been told. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a stellar A/V presentation and a couple of brief special features. If you are a Damon fan, this is one of his most substantial performances in recent years.
Stillwater is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Universal 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.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
