DVD Corner

Enemy Blu-ray Review

“Enemy” benefits from a mind bending ending.

Based on the novel “The Double,” “Enemy” revolves around a bored history professor who (Adam) lives a rather monotonous life with his girlfriend Mary. After Adam sees an indie movie and notices an actor (Anthony) who looks just like him, however, his world becomes turned upside down. Wanting to meet his alleged doppelganger, Adam becomes obsessed by Anthony and hopes to tracks him down. Eventually, the two meet and, suffice to say, things get more than a little weird as the two trade places and become involved with one another’s wife. Are the two related? Is Anthony a figment of Adam’s mind? Is there something far more bizarre going on?

As the story unfolds, “Enemy” appears to be an atmospheric, creepy, but rather tame psychological story about identity, role reversal, society, and doppelgangers. While it certainly captures your interest, you can’t help but feel like something more should be going on. Additionally, the overdone music score, the rushed scenes, and the sometimes forced drama can feel a bit frustrating at times. When the mind boggling ending rolls around, however, everything changes completely.

I’m not often taken by surprise by a movie, but the ending of “Enemy” did just that. Not only is it a major “What???” moment, but it makes you rethink everything you just saw. Suddenly, all of the film’s issues begin to make sense as you realize Javier Gullon’s script was skillfully planned and plotted all along. Now, obviously, I can’t go into detail about what happens or what I even think it all means, but there’s no question that the final frame is worth pondering long after the film ends.

Last, but not least, actor Jake Gyllenhaal deserves much credit for his dual roles here. Not only does he excel at making Adam and Anthony unique in their own ways, but he also gives two of the best performances of his career thus far. These type of roles could have easily been showy, scenery chewing material, but they aren’t and they are never played that way. Gyllenhaal takes everything seriously and he makes the story feel convincing.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.40:1 1080p. How does it look? The stylistic color palette shines in hi-def.

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? From the moody music to the generally quiet dialogue deliveries, this track handles all the various sounds quite well.

Extras:
* Lionsgate trailers.
* “Lucid Dreams: The Making of Enemy” contains film clips, cast and crew interviews, and discussions about the story and characters.

July 4, 2014 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Doppelganger, Enemy Blu-ray Review, Enemy Ending, Jake Gyllenhaal