I just watched this over the weekend - really a great film, highly recommended. this was an excellent unwinder after a busy sunday of bike riding and beach time - we sort of aimlessly took a trip to the video store and just wanted to watch something GOOD (and also make a bit of an escape to a slightly more comfortable/controlled climate) most of the stuff that I have seen recently has been just acceptable - only slightly better than watching something broadcast. this movie was different - it had a definite affect of attraction, not only to the story itself but also to the cast of characters (most impressive performances).
I am sort of surprised that none of the above posts commented on the pq/cinematography - I thought that the video was well above average, especially for a scope presentation. I thought that the color depth of the picture approached (my) reference level - this dvd really has a good portion of that ever elusive punch. Reds were red, yellows yellow - that most spooky patch of flowers was very cool looking. I also thought that that the shadow detail was also impressive - even on a digital projector. a decent amount of the film was at or around night/dark time, the picture really held together - overall a very film-like presentation. I also enjoyed how the picture was structured visually - there were a number of scenes where shadow/black was used to frame within in the frame - to draw attention to a character or other important object - this was then usually contrasted immediately with a full frame shot; this made the scope presentation even more impressive than usual. sort of wish that everything was shot this *big*. the only somewhat negative thing was I did notice some stairstepping/line twitter at the start of the movie, ended up turning ForceWeave on which seemed to make a noticeable improvement - perhaps there could be some flag issues here?
there were a number of things that I enjoyed about the story. there really were not a lot of specific right and wrongs here - everything was presented as a shade of gray, fairly accurate of how real world decisions are made. was it right for lapaglia to cheat? big picture no, but apparently it was right enough at the time, according to his mind. what it right for him to take confidential evidence? no - but big picture it sure was - not only for the investigation but also for his personal need. no easy choices here. the fact that each character was called upon multiple time to make a choice, to decide what they *should* do was what made this film so good. because there was no black and white, there was an overall uncertainty on what was going to happen - and who it was going to happen to. it was also great to see such a realistic contrast of relationship - happy vs. pretend happy vs. unhappy enough to decide to do something about it. and then having to live with the decision. I did think that it could have ended about 5 minutes earlier - in the car after the kicker. the real ending seemed somewhat tacked on - I really did not need to get everything tied up so neatly together, but not complaining. that last interaction between lapaglia and kerry armstrong (great job as well) was worth it.
anyway, I think that this one is a keeper. really good content and a very good presentation. if you are looking for something that looks good on the system and something that people might have not seen before - definitely check this one out. very nice.
-jeff