Deception—20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)

Video: 4.75/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3.5/5

An accountant is introduced to a mysterious, sex-dating club known as The List by his lawyer friend. He becomes enthralled in this new lifestyle, but he soon becomes the prime suspect in a woman’s disappearance and a multimillion-dollar heist.

This was a pet project for X-Men superstar Hugh Jackman and ultimately it didn’t light up box offices. The film is pretty good overall but falls a bit short in the third act. Sexy thrillers are becoming a thing of the past and I was hoping this might help bring them back but ultimately it fell short of expectations. The casting is great and the film starts off strong but it just feels like they couldn’t find the right ending for it.

Fox delivers a solid HD transfer for this one. The film has a sleek production style with intense contrast and a vivid color palette. Fine details are preserved beautifully and film grain varies throughout the film. Unlike most films out there, this one was shot with a mix of digital and standard film cameras so you do notice some subtle differences as the film progresses. The only noticeable difference is how clean the image looks. Film grain is never intrusive and actually adds to the style but the digital footage is impeccably clean with razor sharp small object detail.

The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is a nice balance of score and ambiance but it never delivered quite the dynamics I was hoping for. The low end punctuates the mood of the film well but some of the club sequences didn’t have the realism I would have expected. Dialogue always sounds natural in tone and balance and imaging across the main channels was dead on.

Extras include a feature commentary along with a couple production features. There is also a Bonus View enabled picture-in-picture mode that gives you some insight into the production while the film is playing. Some deleted scenes are also included.

While not quite the sexy thriller I was hoping for, Deception was still a decent ride. Fox delivers an exceptional A/V presentation for a film that fans of the genre should give a chance.

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