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Mel Martin
The Glass Castle is based on the best-selling book written by journalist Jeanette Walls. It’s the story of her growing up in a dysfunctional family of non-conforming nomads. The film starts in the 1980s, with Jeanette working in New York as a highly successful and sought-after writer. Through flashbacks we meet her family, particularly her odd-ball alcoholic father played by Woody Harrelson, and her mother, played by Naomi Watts. Brie Larson plays Jeanette as the older daughter, while Ella Anderson and Chandler Head play Jeanette when she was younger.
It’s an emotional film, that resonates even more because it is based on a true story.
2017, PG-13, 1080p, 2 hours and 7 minutes
Aspect Ratio 2.40:1, Dolby TruHD 7.1
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts, Brie Larson, Max Greenfield, Sarah Snook
Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
Rating
Violence: No
Sex: No
Language: Yes
I liked the film, but it was not perfect. Harrelson was the obvious choice for the nutty father, but perhaps too obvious. Harrelson did his best Harrelson, but after a while it was predictable. At 2:07, the film is a bit too long and it meanders in places.
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Still the acting is first rate, with standout performances from Brie Larson and the younger actresses who played Jeanette growing up. Sometimes I was uncomfortable with how amazingly odd and dysfunctional this family is, but that’s what the story is built around. Overall, it was an emotional and thoughtful viewing experience.
Technically, this is a fine rendering. The video has that sepia, fall color, not-a-present-day-film look. Flesh tones accurately match the color tone of the film. Noise is quite low, and there were certainly opportunities for noise in some very dark scenes.
The audio isn’t up to the quality of the video. Although it offers a 7.1 mix, the rear channels are very subdued. There was just a hint of ambience in the rears, but basically the movie sounds mostly like a stereo film.
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There weren’t a lot of opportunities in the drama for deep bass, so that’s absent too. I’m sure these were artistic decisions, but I still feel the mix could have been better.
Included are; 9 deleted scenes, The Glass Castle: Memoir to Movie, A Conversation with Jeanette Walls, Making of “Summer Storm” by Joel P. West, Scoring The Glass Castle, a bonus DVD and a Digital HD Copy.