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Either I’ve reached the limits of my ability to comprehend film, or this Guy Ritchie gangster flick is so cryptic, so obscure, so intentionally oblique that a normal viewer will come away scratching his head in confusion. What begins as a compelling and involving crime melodrama, devolves into self-referential psychobabble that had this writer utterly baffled.

Jake Green (Jason Statham) is spending seven years in jail, choosing to cut his sentence in half by isolating himself in solitary confinement. On either side of his cell are a con man and a chess master. The two communicate through notes within books on higher mathematics and quantum mechanics (don’t all prisons have such books?) that pass through Green’s hands. They trade chess moves, define a formula for acquiring great gobs of cash, and reveal plans for a prison break. They offer to take Green with them when they break out, but they simply disappear one night, to the astonishment of the guards and Green.

Flash forward. Green was released from jail and has spent two years accumulating those great gobs of cash. Flush, he turns his attention to the man for whom he took the fall nine years before, a mobster and casino owner named Macha (Ray Liotta). In a cold, verbal confrontation between Green and Macha, it becomes clear to the mobster that Green represents a threat. Not one to hesitate to eliminate threats with lethal violence, Macha orders Green’s hit. He’s saved in mysterious ways by two mysterious strangers, Zach (Vincent Pastore) and Avi (Andre Benjamin). Alas, Green’s problems have just begun.

He’s diagnosed with an incurable and rare blood disease that will kill him within three days, but Zach and Avi claim they can help. With nowhere else to turn, to save his life, he seemingly makes a pack with two devils. There are conditions: he must obey all orders without question and he must hand over all his cash. The money is used for loan sharking and to mount an operation to steal from and destroy Macha. How they get their intelligence to strike vulnerable and time-critical weaknesses is never revealed. What follows is a blend of excellently staged violent crime (much of which is far more complex than I’m summarizing), philosophizing about the big con (repeating rules for the big con several times in several contexts), and (here’s where the film lost me) psychobabble about inner turmoil, ego, and escaping unrealized self-imposed internal imprisonment. And annoyingly, I was unable to discern the motivations to two key characters.

Ritchie employs creative and sometimes self-conscious camera techniques. The fine performers turn in credible performances. The action is well staged and brutal. Ritchie switches to animation during one of the sequences, in a fashion similar to Tarantino’s Kill Bill, but to lesser effect. The film is first and foremost a psychological study of confidence games and the conning of conmen. I only wish it had been a little less obscure in its approach to conveying the inner chaos.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in a fine looking high definition transfer compressed with the AVC video CODEC. This is a fairly new film, even if it took three years to release it, so the transfer print is pristine; no dirt or blemishes here. Small object detail is pretty decent, but finely grained textures are not state of the art. Color accuracy can be a bit odd. Flesh tones can be a bit on the yellow side, imparting a jaundiced appearance to the actors all too often. Chroma saturation is also not consistent; some scenes are much livelier than others. Both may have been an artistic decision. Blacks levels don’t plumb the depths of the video dynamic range, and can be, instead, a very dark brown or blue. The transfer is far better than could possibly achieved on DVD, but the images are not as fine as they should be for such a new film.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The lossless TrueHD 5.1 track fare better than the visuals. Depending on the onscreen action, the mix will transform from front-centric conservatism to entertaining immersion. Ambience is not ignored; I appreciated the sounds of the slot machines emanating from the surrounds when the characters are talking in a casino. The bottom end is strong, most obvious in the gunfire and in the bass lines of the various musical tracks and score. Statham voiceover narration emphasizes the upper bass, imparting an unnaturally heavy timbre to his voice. But the film’s dislog sounds more convincing and is distortion-free throughout.

The alternative track is in French Dolby TrueHD 5.1. The optional subtitles are in English SDH, English, and French.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The disc opens with a BD Promo, and a high definition trailers for Hancock, the expanded BD release of Casino Royale, and 21. These may be skipped and accessed from Previews on the Special Features menu.

There are seven deleted or extended scenes (24:29 aggregate, non-anamorphic widescreen, SD), most of which are introduced by the director. I was fascinated that Ritchie explains that the alternate opening explains too much and was changing to reduce giving away to much too soon. I had already seen the film when I watched this sequence and I was just as confused. He made similar comments concerning a rooftop golf scene, but once again, I was not any more informed. I’d like to report that watching these scenes added clarity, but, in fact, I cannot.

The Outtakes (4:03, non-anamorphic widescreen, SD) represent the gag reel. With the exception of two very bad golfers, there is neither a smile nor chuckle to be had.

I had high hopes for The Game: The Making of Revolver featurette (24:30, non-anamorphic widesceern, SD) to give me the clarity I craved. It was not to be. Although this is a pleasant and somewhat revealing behind-the-scenes piece that is several cuts above EPK material, it didn’t focus on the intent of the storyline. I usually prefer the kind of technical and anecdotal content found in his featurette; I usually object to wasting my time with an extended discussion of plot and character motivations, but that’s exactly what I needed. And I still do.

Revolver: Making the Music featurette (14:08, non-anamorphic widescreen, SD) introduces us to composer Nathaniel Mechaly. Since he’s French, his comments are supported by forced English subtitles. This is rather slick, but the content is precisely what one would expect from such a short. It’s an elaborate explanation of the reasons for the artistic decisions that drove the score.

But wait, here’s another featurette, The Concept: An Interview With Writer/Director Guy Ritchie And Editor James Hurbert (16:15, non- anamorphic widescreen, SD). Once again, I was amazed that Ritchie thought that they were making the film too clear; he insists that it needed to be more cryptic. On that score, the filmmakers succeeded… royally. Alas, the featurette, as interesting as it is in its own right, simply addresses the philosophy of editing and the artistic approach applied. I was also fascinated by Ritchie’s comments that he went back and screened the film with a critical eye after initial negative reviews were published; he decided that he couldn’t see one thing that required change. I think this is a case of a writer/director knowing what he wanted to say, even sees an expression of his intent onscreen, but is so close to the work that he can’t see the film through a viewer’s eyes.

Next is Music Trailer (3:47, non- anamorphic widescreen, SD), which is presumably a promo for the score CD.

There is a commentary by writer/director Guy Ritchie and editor James Herbert. With limited time available to me, I went straight for the last couple of chapters, when the psychological underpinnings of the film are to be revealed. I listened intently as Ritchie alluded to what was going on, but his choice of words and phraseology continue to obscure. As the commentary wound down, the voices of an array of psychiatrists seen to the left of the closing credits became more audible. This was the second time I listened to their explaining that we are all imprisoned by our egos, and that we mistakenly believe that our egos are our best friends. Did that help me understand the film? No.

The 104-minute film is organized into sixteen chapters.

Final Thoughts

The film’s underlying premise is intriguing and thought-provoking, but the execution leaves much to be desired. Plot holes abound, and when the film becomes mysterious and obscure to the point of distraction, it simply left this viewer with an overwhelming sense of frustration. A reasonable presentation backed up by generous and germane supplements don’t make up for the obfuscation.