Wednesday, August 13, 2014

FILTH (2013)

FILTH (2013) 
Label: Magnolia Home Entertainment 
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 98 Minutes
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p Widescreen 
Cast: James McAvoy, Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan, Jim Broadbent, Imogen Poots
Director: Jon S. Baird

I went into this one completely cold and walked-away totally wowed - this was a delirious good time from start to finish. James McAvoy (X-MEN:FIRST CLASS) completely owns this biting black comedy as the unhinged Scottish Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson. A young buck on the force plotting his ascension to the position of Detective Inspector at the expense of everyone around him. The drug-addled Robertson is a rather vile individual but through the charismatic performance of McAvoy manages to gain a few sympathy points along the way. 

Robertson's an unsavory character not above violently shagging his fellow officer's wives and using his position to coerce a blow job from the underage daughter of a local magistrate when she's caught in a  awkward situation - he's a pretty scummy guy and that I felt sympathetic for him probably says something dark about me - but it must be said he is not a totally despicable person and does have a few redeeming moments throughout but they are far and few between. 

His road to making Detective Inspector seems assured if he can solve the murder of a Japanese student whom was beaten to death by a group of violent street teens. He sets himself up to come up on top but things begins to shift as Robertson is besieged by surreal, nightmarish visions and prone to strange and violent outbursts. This is a epic losing your grip on reality film with a damn fine unhinged performance from James McAvoy (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) and some fun supporting roles from Jamie Bell (SNOWPIERCER) as the coke-snorting rookie, Eddie Marsan (AT WORLD'S END) as a four-eyed friend, Jim Broadbent (HOT FUZZ) as a demented psychiatrist and Imogen Poots (28 WEEKS LATER) as perhaps the lone voice of reason.

A stylish and warped piece of cinema that is both grotesque, bitterly funny and extremely dark which makes for one Hell of a fun watch from start to finish. This one goes places you won't expect and I can pretty much guarantee fans of TRAINSPOTTING and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE will find much to enjoy here - additionally this one seems like it would continue to entertain upon repeat viewing - definitely a film I could gush over for awhile. James McAvoy continues to impress me a little more with each film.  

The disc from Magnolia looks great with a sweet HD presentation that's sharp, crisp and oozing with color - the more surreal scenes are fantastic to watch and really pop with vibrancy and clarity. A nice selection of extras including a commentary from director John S. Baird and author Irvine Welsh plus outtakes, deleted and extended scenes and a few  behind-the-scene featurettes.