Undercover Blues | | Cast : | Kathleen Turner, Dennis Quaid | | Director : | Herbert Ross | | Studio : | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | September 10, 1993 | | DVD Released Date : | April 01, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 02, 2005 | | Summary | Entertaining and fun movie | Content
 | This would have be one of the most under rated movies in Kathleen Turner or Dennis Quaid's movie lists. You rarely see this movie mentioned by them or by people who write about them. But yet, this small movie proves to be highly entertaining, fun to watch and I enjoyed the rapport between the two leads.
You can probably classified this as "action comedy" movie and both plays a huge part in making it work. Stanley Tucci who played the local thug virtually steal the movie whenever he appears, often playing the fall guy in each and every occasion. Unlike the previous reviewer, I thought there was pretty good chemisty between Turner and Quaid and they played up to their "happily married couple" routine very nicely. Both played a government super spies, on vacation but called back to duty to recovered some nasty high explosives. They are follow by Stanley Tucci who want revenge on them so badly that he ends up praying to God for assistence...that an irony of a scene. And couple of New Orleans' finest also trail them as well thinking they are up to no good. Its a fun, action packed movie as Quaid and Turner goes the movie being bit smug and all together very happy.
Well directed and well acted, the script isn't very good and the story can be considered bit weak. I mean what pair of New Orlean's police force have that much time trailing two person who basically haven't broken any law?? But overall, this is fun movie, its weaknesses can be overlooked because the movie is entertaining to watch.
The DVD issue of this movie was a so-so effort. The anamorphic widescreen image quality is decent but not exceptional. It also come with full screen option as well. No extras to speak of, only a movie trailer. The sound is basic stereo, no 5.1 DD or anything like that. Overall, a super basic DVD issue of this movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 18, 2005 | | Summary | Be cautious buying this if you don't know it | Content
| The reviews were so good we bought this. We all agreed it was a major disappointment. It obviously depends very much on your comedic taste. So as a balance to other reviews:
Kathleen Turner looks far too old for Dennis Quaid so there is a visual jarring that makes it unbelievable these two ever got togather. They have less that zero chemistry. I think they were going for 'fun banter' as in older romantic comedies. This seemed to mean throwing lines at each other while maintaining a fixed silly smile. They had the remarkable ability to hug or say 'I love you' as if commenting on the weather (and with less passion).
I wasnt sure whether they were going for 'supremely confident' with Dennis as he walks through his fight scenes or for grinning sociopath (which if it hadnt been a comedy it could have looked). Perhaps he was doing a Harrison Ford type cynicism but if so it didnt have enough dimension to come off.
The addition of the baby didnt work for us. It is hard to mix 'cute and fragile' with the potential for violence that the baby is walking into.
Stanley Tucci is very good but forced to play one-note slapstick.
The police offsider puts on an irritating 'south with a lisp' accent that makes it hard to understand his lines at times and again sounds silly. Was the lisp meant to be funny in itself?This was not the finest moment for Kathleen or Dennis (who we have liked in other movies) and we found it unfunny.
As many other reviewers found it otherwise, I'd advise trying to view it before you buy it - or be prepared to toss it if it isn't you - as we have.
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| Rating | | | Date | June 10, 2005 | | Summary | Deserved a Sequal... Or a Series! | Content
| This movie is so good, I feel compelled to dedicate to it my first Amazon review ever. The majority of the other reviewers are right about this little gem; it is a totally underrated sleeper hit, and I believe the only reason it didn't get much attention at the box office is that it was overshadowed by the cinematic giant known as "Jurassic Park" (1993). Seriously!
This film is both smart and silly, in all the best ways. The dialog is witty, and both Quaid and Turner exude confidence and charm, yet they are not plastic or artificial. They both have real concern for the other's safety and wellbeing, and especially that of their baby daughter (who is adorable!).
Plus, it features something rare in modern entertaiment: A married couple who love each other passionately and are extremely attracted to eachother, don't cheat on eachother or fight with each other (except for the occasional playfully bantering disagreement), and who just generally display a positive attitude toward married and parental life! This is a concept that Hollywood should explore and celebrate! (Please pardon my little happy rant.) ^_^;
And then there's Muerte (or Morty, as the Blues like to call him). Stanley Tucci very nearly steals the show with his comedic performance, which provides a perfect slapstic counterpoint to the Blues' confident composure and snappy banter.
If there are any caveats to this film, they would be the single use of the f-word (Which alone is responsible for the PG-13 rating) and the somewhat foul mouth of the police detective (frequent exclamations of "God-D*mn!"). Also, there is bit of suggestive flirting between Mr and Mrs Blue that references their love-life, but it's actually rather refreshing to see this in a married couple on screen.
All that said, rent or Buy this movie (especially now that it's on DVD)! Undercover Blues is at the very least enjoyable, and I wish it could have had a sequal!
(Jeff Blue: "Now...Which way IS Cuba?") ^__~ |
| Rating | | | Date | January 25, 2004 | | Summary | I Got a Right to Sing the Blues | Content
| I love this movie, and it is with great reluctance that I'm rating the DVD with fewer than five stars. However, it seems that little work was done digitally mastering the film: there's a lot of grain and artifacting on the DVD (to be fair, the VHS doesn't look great either, but the blur of the tape reduces the grain in the image; on the DVD you get nice, crisp speckles and blotches). Basically this is a 5-star movie with 2-star production values, split the difference and round up, you get four stars. The plot provides a so-so post-Cold War backdrop for the actors to do their thing. There hasn't been such a breezy, fun-loving, crime-fighting couple since Nick and Nora Charles. Dennis Quaid's dazzling smile and cheeky attitude brighten up the film, and Kathleen Turner provides a street- and book-smart turn as the brains of the operation. Add in Larry Miller's supporting role as the lisping, soft-spoken Detective Sgt. Halsey (that'th eth-ee-why, not eth-why), Stanley Tucci's shrieking tough guy, Muerte, and Fiona Shaw's devilish Paulina Novacek and you've got ninety minutes of comedic gold. Unfortunately, along with the straight-from-video transfer, no expense was spent in providing extras on the DVD. There are a handful of trailers and that's about it. The menu screens look good, but if you go to a restaurant and the best thing you can say about it is "nice menus," odds are you won't be eating there very often. That's a shame really, because this is a good movie that's getting a raw deal from poor packaging and a lousy transfer. If a remastered version of this disc comes out - with or without all the bells and whistles in the bonus department - swoop on it without delay. In the meantime, VHS is actually your best bet: the film's flaws aren't as noticeable and you've been making allowances for such things for years now anyway. |
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