'Tone-Deaf' [Blu-ray+Digital]
(Robert Patrick, Amanda Crew, Annalynne McCord, Ray Wise, Kim Delaney, et al / Blu-ray + Digital / R / 2019 / LGF)
Overview: After being dumped by both her boss and her boyfriend, Olive (Amanda Crew) flees the city for the weekend and rents an ornate country house from an old-fashioned widower named Harvey (Robert Patrick).
She’s hoping for a few days of peace. What she gets is a weekend of sheer terror, as Olive awakens Harvey’s darkest urges—and is plunged into a blood-soaked fight for her life.
Blu-ray Verdict: Having seen 'Excision' and 'Trash Fire', I was expecting another oddball horror from Richard Bates Jr. (although thus far his debut remains his best. Nevertheless, 'Tone-Deaf' is a fun, albeit and instantly forgettable experience.
The main selling point for me was Robert Patrick (as I'm sure it's for the lot of you) and the pretty decent trailer, but having now watched it I have to say that I'm slightly disappointed.
Sure, Patrick was awesome, of course, but most of the characters, the story and the whole point of the plot arc wasn't too great or imaginative, sadly.
An old-head hating on millennial's and taking action is an old, but fun concept, sure, but for my money 'Tone-Deaf' didn't give it a new spin at all.
Too many of the millennial characters were lame, unsympathetic and annoying, but that could've been the point, I guess! However, it's not much of an excuse for the main character being the same kind and I didn't really feel for the protagonist either.
The plot is also predictable enough and doesn't go to unexpected and surprising places, but despite the wobbly characters, overall the acting was relatively good.
I mean, the "story" is a right royal mixed bag of mediocrity! It is all over the place and changes tone several times during the film. At some points it tries to be a serious thriller. At other points it is a light-hearted dramedy. Yet at other times it's an arthouse parody that really makes little sense.
To sum it up, it's all a bit wonky regarding the script. Visual style, cinematography and FX were of no bother, but rather well done overall. The soundtrack was colorful and peppered with a few songs that can only be associated with millennial's, me thinks.
But hey, it's the whole theme of the flick so it actually works nicely, in my humble opinion. In closing, well, here it is: The widower (Patrick) is suffering from dementia, but is able to observe things like a detective and then get away clean after committing murders! A role fit perfectly for Patrick, don't you agree! This is a Widescreen Presentation (2.39:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Feature of:
The Struggle Is Real: Making Tone-Deaf
It won’t be a quiet death when 'Tone-Deaf' arrives on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital October 22nd, 2019 from Lionsgate.
www.LGF.com
Official 'Tone-Deaf' Trailer