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$5 A Day
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Image Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (17th October 2010). |
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The Film
 Little fun (and reasonably well known) fact: Christopher Walken rarely turns down role in a film if it’s offered to him. Much lesser known fact: I really like – screw it, I’ll say I love – the fact that Christopher Walken doesn’t turn down most of the roles he’s offered. I’ll watch anything with him in it; cameo, leading man – it doesn’t matter. I just really like Christopher Walken. I think most other people do too. And truth be told, “$5 a Day” would not the same movie without him; it just wouldn’t be as good (I doubt it would even be any good) if he weren’t playing Nat Parker, a shifty conman who’s been living on little more than $5 a day thanks to a series of fake I.D.'s, free pre-paid cell phones, a Chrysler PT Cruiser wrapped in Sweet ‘N’ Low branded decals (the company pays for his gas, tires and most of the car payment) and a host of other promotions, cons and gifts. As “$5 a Day” opens we meet Nat’s son Flynn (Alessandro Nivola). He’s a health inspector based out of L.A., living under the pseudonym “Ritchie” Parker. Unfortunately for Ritchie, someone has tipped off his employer about a previously served prison sentence that Flynn failed to mention on his application, and so he’s fired. Worse yet, when he gets home from this horribly awful day, Flynn is met with the sight of his longtime girlfriend, Maggie (Amanda Peet), packing up and moving out. She’s fed up with the cryptic stories about his past and their lack of communication as a couple. It seems the reason for her sudden, fiery anger comes in the form of a letter from Flynn’s father – whom he had said was dead – that mentions, not only “Ritchie’s” true identity, but a wealth of other truths about the series of lies on which their relationship was founded. Maggie leaves, and Flynn reads the letter, which he finds also contains a one-way ticket to New Jersey so that he can go see father. With no job and no girlfriend, the lost son returns to his father, and so begins the journey on which “$5 a Day” is based. Nat (Christopher Walken) reveals to Flynn that he has cancer, that he’s dying, and that he wants Flynn to drive him to New Mexico for one last try at treatment via untested experimental methods (it’s also a free trial, so he doesn’t have to pay for any of it even if it works). Knowing that his son hates him for wrongdoings in the past (we learn that Flynn’s time in prison was largely because of Nat and a bad con that he tried to pull), Nat secretly hopes that their time together will help heal the long open wounds in their relationship. He also wants to get the tightly wound Flynn back to his looser, less cynical self – the pre-prison Flynn. The younger Parker is somewhat apprehensive, but agrees on the grounds that his father pay for the whole trip – terms which, much to Flynn’s surprise, Nat gladly accepts. Along the way the duo meets all sorts of quirky characters (and Flynn, our audience stand in, gets to see his con-artist dad still as slick as ever, schmoozing and grifting his way into freebies) played by the likes of Sharon Stone, Dean Cain and Peter Coyote. Cain has the least interesting cameo, and Nat and Flynn’s diversion into his, what I think is an anniversary party, slows the film down to an almost grinding halt. But, Stone, who plays Flynn’s old babysitter that always had a thing for the elder Parker, and Coyote, a bastard of a car-dealership-owning local politico (not to mention Nat’s longtime nemesis), are both perfect, much-needed additions to the cast. Coyote for his professional gravitas; Stone because she plays an overly tan, bleached blonde with horribly white teeth and a personality to match (it’s funnier than it sounds, I am sure). The contrast of those two welcomed guest-roles kind of sums up what I liked most about this movie – or second most anyway (the first being Walken himself). Whether to the credit of director Nigel Cole, or the scriptwriting of Neal and Tippi Dobrofsky, “$5 a Day” balances its serious tone with a lot of real world, but sort-of-out-there, humor. The dramatic plot of a fathers need to a sons love is weighty, deep stuff; yet, in the roundabout way that Cole and company approach the subject (i.e. through subtle humor), the film isn’t too solemn or sobering. Even the cancer aspect of the story has a bit of lightheartedness to it. Part of why this works is because Nivola and Walken, as Flynn and Nat, have such earnest-yet-jolly chemistry. Flynn very obviously has issues with his father, but deep down loves him, and Nivola’s delicate thawing, as he makes Flynn more and more receptive to Nat’s naturally likable charisma, is quite well done. Similarly Walken is great. I think people often forget that Christopher Walken is actually an extremely talent actor. Yes he’s funny when he wants to be – hilarious even – but when need be he’s just as capable in a dramatic part. I think it’s easy to mistake him as an eccentric; someone better known for a few weird caricatures, odd cameos and having a particularly unique way with the English language (which, unfortunately, is a bit hard to accentuate via text) than for being a serious thespian. But remember, Walken won a well-earned Oscar 1979 for his role in Michael Cimino’s “The Deer Hunter” (1978) and was rightfully nominated again less than a decade ago (although, that time he didn’t win) for his part in “Catch Me if You Can” (2002). The guy may have been Clem from “Joe Dirt” (2001) but don’t discount his dexterity as an actor, nor his ability to create great nuance and subtlety in a role. Cole’s direction is sharp, the script is decently handled, and the acting ranges from good to beyond great. Still, “$5 a Day” isn’t a masterpiece of filmmaking, it’s not an Oscar contender; hell, it’s not even that original (in fact, around this time last year I reviewed Michael Meredith's “The Open Road” (2009), a film with a very similar theme and somewhat similar road-trip-centric plot). But, at the same time this is hardly a bad film. And it’s certainly not the atrociously dreadful thing that it could be. The film is just a tab predictable, and that’s not exactly a terrible crime. If for no other reason, see this movie for a great bit of acting from an underrated but near universally liked performer. Walken makes “$5 a Day” worth more than it’s clichés. Much more than he probably should.
Video
From the looks of it I’d say that “$5 a Day” was shot on 16mm film. It’s a little softer than your average 35mm production, far grainier, and given the low budget origins of the project, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of reality to think cinematographer Peter Donahue and director Nigel Cole would have decided on a small-gauge film format (perhaps, even probably, Super 16mm) – especially considering his overall goal of documentary-style “realism” which Cole talks about in the disc's extras. It’s not the cleanest, clearest; smoothest or most detailed Blu-ray on the market, but without question Image Entertainment has done a fine job transferring the film to high definition. Encoded in 1080p 24/fps via the AVC MPEG-4 compression codec and framed in the films original theatrical window of 1.85:1, “$5 a Day” sports a reasonably sharp, filmic image that remains unmolested by unwanted digital tinkering like edge enhancement or noise reduction, and despite it’s single layered confines and grittier visual aesthetic, little evidence of blocking or severe banding. Overall the color palette is muted; just a little duller than natural (although few scenes are bathed in golden sunset hues and have a warmer texture), but contrast is exceptional with inky blacks and an inviting amount of depth. Either way, the film looks great – especially considering its meager budget and even less assuming home video release.
Audio
The film’s English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track mixed at 48kHz/24-bit is adequate given the source material, but nothing too groundbreaking all the same. Music, dialogue and pretty much everything in the soundtrack gets funneled through the front three speakers about 90-percent of the runtime, so don’t expect a lot of whiz-bang and 360-degree immersion, ‘cause it’s never going to show. The remaining leftovers account for a few odds and ends in terms of the score, which by the way, I damn near hated. Alex Wurman can do and has done better. Frankly his work here sounds like something generic, more fit for Apple’s iMovie suite (perhaps a track that would be called “Road Trip” or something) than a real motion picture. Clarity of the overall track is great and stereo separation across the fronts is above average, but the mix just isn’t a knockout by any stretch. Optional subtitles are also available in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
“$5 a Day” contains a rather weak supplemental package overall, but perhaps that’s not to unexpected, and this is probably true of both “Middle of Nowhere” (2008) and “Multiple Sarcasms” (2009) – the other films in Image’s August-indie wave – too, because independent films rarely have hours of bonus material on hand. Still, what is included, a cast and crew interview featurette which unfortunately lacks both cowbell and Walken, a collection of still galleries and a theatrical trailer, isn’t all that exciting. The extras are presented in a mixture of 480i, 480p and 1080p video with 2.0 Dolby Digital audio across the board. A seven-part featurette, compiled from a collection of cast and crew interviews, makes up the largest supplement on the disc and is simply titled “Interviews” (480i, 35 minutes 9 seconds). Each interview can be accessed individually or via a play all: - First up is a top-rate discussion with director Nigel Cole in which he reveals how he became involved with the project, his directing philosophy, working with Christopher Walken and Alessandro Nivola, the films rapid-fire shoot, his thoughts on Americana, how Sharon Stone joined the cast, and his preference for natural ad-libbing from his actors; this runs 10 minutes 37 seconds. - Alessandro Nivola spends a lot of unneeded time recapping the plot of the film, but in the last few minutes of his interview talks about how refreshing it was to be on the set of a small, independent film with a director who encouraged actor input and allowed for some spontaneity even on the tight shooting schedule. Nivola’s segment runs 7 minutes flat. - Sharon Stone seems a bit out of it in her interview, almost like she’s drunk. She’s very spacey, looking off screen and not saying much. When she is talking Stone is overly congratulatory to everyone in the cast and director Nigel Cole. I don’t know… it all just seems a little phony – a bit rehearsed (while being simultaneously scatter-brained) and pretty unauthentic. Then again, maybe I’m just a cynic. Stone’s segment runs 6 minutes 23 seconds. - Dean Cain is interviewed (why?) but he doesn’t have much to say. It’s all very repetitious; Walken praise, the ensemble cast, small budget movie and a great director. He’s smarmy, superficial and expects us to believe that he actually once tried to live on $5 a day. He talks for 3 minutes 57 seconds. - The wonderful Peter Coyote sits down for a great chat; he talks about his character, Burt Kruger, and how he played him as a “Hitler type” – or as Coyote put it, “a villain who doesn’t think of himself as someone who’s evil or that any of his actions are wrong.” He also talks quite frankly about the independent film scene, Big Hollywood’s quest for appealing to the widest possible audience (which includes, in his words, “the dummies”) and how the chance to work with Christopher Walken got him to say yes to the project. He closes out his comments with the statement, “there is no living actor who’s not a fan of Chris Walken.” A great 4 minutes 50 seconds. - Finally, Amanda Peet talks briefly about the film. She’s quite annoying, and overuses uses words like “funny, sweet, great and amazing” to describe people. She tries to tell a story about how she embarrassed herself in front of Walken, but kind of doesn’t quite get to the punch line – she just sort of stops talking and calls him “amazing” again. Ugh. 2 minutes 3 seconds. A header marked "Still Galleries” hides three separate, rather lame, slideshows. All of the pictures are encoded in 1080p high definition. “Photo Gallery” (7 images) houses a few choice shots taken by on set photographer Michael Parmelee. “Production Stills” (14 images) is exactly what it says it is. Finally, “Cast and Crew” (12 images) includes pictures of the behind-the-scenes action and the people responsible for making the movie happen. Lastly, the film's theatrical trailer (480p, 2 minutes 3 seconds) is included in anamorphic widescreen.
Packaging
“$5 a Day” arrives on Blu-ray from Image Home Entertainment. The single layered (BD-25) release is packaged conventionally, in a standard Elite eco-case, but also includes a coupon for “Sweet N Low” products (see the movie and you’ll get the connection).
Overall
I actually was a little surprised by “$5 a Day.” The film isn’t entirely original – in fact it’s quite unoriginal at times – but it has a wonderful balance between natural comedy and realistic drama, which is in itself quite unique. A few of the noted cameos and Alessandro Nivola & Christopher Walken’s chemistry are interesting enough on their own terms, but Walken’s performance alone is worth the rental fee’s. Image’s Blu-ray has great video and decent audio; however, extras are a bit unremarkable. “$5 a Day” is decidedly worth a look.
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