Marie Blu Ray Review (Warner Archive Collection)

Marie is a 1985 drama directed by Roger Donaldson (Cocktail, The Getaway, Species, Dante’s Peak, White Sands, The November Man, The Bank Job, The Recruit, and No Way Out). It’s written by John Briley (Gandhi, Cry Freedom, Children of the Damned, and Enigma). It’s based on the real life story and the book from author Peter Maas (Serpico, King of the Gypsies, and The Valachi Papers). It’s produced by Frank Capra Jr. (Firestarter, Planet of the Apes franchise, Vice Squad, and The Seduction). It grossed $2,507,995 worldwide at the box office. Marie Ragghianti (played by: Sissy Spacek from Carrie, Castle Rock, Badlands, JFK, The Ring Two, and In the Bedroom) leaves her abusive marriage and she decides to get a fresh start at life. She goes to school and she gets a degree in English and Psychology. She asks her college friend Eddie Sisk (played by: Jeff Daniels from Dumb and Dumber, Speed, Pleasantville, Arachnophobia, The Lookout, Gettysburg, and The Newsroom) for a job connected to the powerful governor Ray Blanton (played by: Don Hood from The Toy, Absence of Malice, Fear, and Swamp Thing). Eddie promotes Marie to liaison to the Governor on Parole Board. She notices shady stuff going on with the governor plus his staff that includes Eddie, Charles (played by: Morgan Freeman from the Batman franchise, Se7en, Million Dollar Baby, Fallen franchise, Alex Cross franchise, Unforgiven, and The Shawshank Redemption), and Kevin (played by: Keith Szarabajka from The Dark Knight, Argo, and Supernatural). She refuses to help their corruption and she is fired for not being a team player. She fights back against the governor which becomes very dangerous for her and people in her life. Will she survive these powerful people????Marie is based on a real life story. It’s a true drama about a women fighting her corrupt co-workers including the governor. The impressive script handles everything that happened here. It’s from director Roger Donaldson who’s done some great work in the past but I wouldn’t consider Marie one of his best. Honestly, it’s a little boring and slow at times. It does have a few crazy and thrilling moments thrown in the mix but it’s mainly a straight up drama that’s dialogue driven. Sissy Spacek as Marie is impressive as always here. She’s the best thing about this production and the reason to check this out. I’ve never seen a bad performance from her before and she always delivers no matter what. Jeff Daniels as Eddie is something completely different from the actor especially when this was made. Jeff Daniels is usually the good guy, hero, or just a very likeable character. Eddie might be the worst one and most ruthless villain in this. He goes from friend to enemy with the quickness. He does whatever it takes to make Marie’s life a living hell. The supporting cast includes Morgan Freeman, Keith Szarabajka, Don Hood, Leon Rippy (Deadwood), Clarence Felder (A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child), Fred Thompson (Law and Order), John Cullum (Northern Exposure), Collin Wilcox Paxton (Jaws 2), and Lisa Banes (Young Guns). If you are big fan of Sissy Spacek, Jeff Daniels, and Morgan Freeman then Marie is definitely worth seeking out. I think it’s a solid movie but it could have been much better especially for it’s pace and flow because it does drag at times.Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from the Warner Archive Collection! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer is way better than expected for an 80’s drama that’s been in the vaults for awhile now. I can’t find any information but it appears to be a newer restoration and it’s much better than it’s 2010 DVD home video release. It’s a major improvement for the forgotten catalog title, it’s the best it’s ever looked so far. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track on the disc. This is not a loud or explosive type of film but it still sounds pretty damn good here. All of the dialogue is very clean, the drama is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has the “Theatrical Trailer”. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!