Acclaimed writer-director Todd Solondz (Welcome To The Dollhouse, Happiness, Life During Wartime) brings you a wry, insightful comedy that shines a light on the dark side of human behavior. Take a journey from innocence to experience, kindness to cruelty, and love to hate with an emotionally needy college student (Selma Blair, Cruel Intentions), a dysfunctional family man (John Goodman, The Big Lebowski), and a struggling filmmaker (Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers) as they learn some of life’s most difficult lessons. Masterfully balancing both fact and fiction, Solondz uses his ever-present razor-sharp wit and observant eye to cut open his characters and skewer the American dream.
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Video Quality
Storytelling debuts on Blu-Ray courtesy of Shout! Studios with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 that brings a rich new life to this acerbic oddball from one of our most unique cinematic voices. The new release is sourced from a 2K scan of the Interpositive that holds up impeccably. The release is natural, consistent, and detailed in all aspects thanks to the retention of the natural film grain. There is thankfully no unnecessary digital smoothing of minute facets. The film reveals subtle characteristics in the production design and costumes.
Skin tones are natural, and the intended color palette is rendered with precision. The locales and outfits saturate the screen. Black levels hold up deftly with some agreeable depth to the image. There is texture on display that would not have been possible in standard definition. The picture looks the best it ever has by far. The transfer represents this as faithfully as it should for posterity. There is no serious damage to be found with this master. Shout! Studios has done respectable work here.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with a solid DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 Master Audio track that handles this material without any source deficiencies. The occasionally shocking dialogue is the primary focus of this track, and every line comes through clearly without being covered up by parallel elements. The reserved soundtrack eases out with fine fidelity. The surround channels provide some ambient details that help the world feel more authentic. All of the sounds in the mix seem carefully placed so that nothing ever feels awry. The subwoofer is mostly used for some faint instances of extra texture. Overall, this is a grand track that does everything it needs to do well. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.
Special Features
- Confessional, Yet Dishonest – Interview with Cinematographer Frederick Elmes A new 18-minute interview with the cinematographer in which he discusses working with Todd Solondz, how they approached the different segments, shooting difficult material, capturing the film within the film, and more.
- Once You Start Writing, It All Becomes Fiction – Interview with Composer Nathan Larson: A new nearly 11-minute interview with the composer in which he discusses his history with composing, collaborating with Todd Solondz, composing key pieces of music for the film, and more.
- Alternate Censored Scenes from Theatrical Cut of the Film: A minute-and-a-half-long version of a very uncomfortable scene is provided with a big red box over the more graphic parts.
- Theatrical Trailer: A nearly two-minute trailer is provided.
Final Thoughts
Storytelling is not quite as shocking as some of the other efforts from Todd Solondz, but he will still cause casual audiences to clutch their pearls more than the average director. The filmmaker makes some clever observations about the nuclear family and the layered dynamics of human behavior. He brings together a great cast who all seem to be on the same page with the absurdity of the material. It is not the most known work from the artist, but it is well worth having a second life on disc. Shout! Studios has released a new Blu-Ray that sports a great A/V presentation and a nice array of new and legacy supplemental features. If you are also a fan who has been clamoring for this one in HD, you will be rewarded for your patience. Recommended
Storytelling is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Shout! Studios 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.
