Lookin' to Get Out (DVD)

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That brings us to the biggest shortcoming of all: Voight's comedic trials. The man is a brilliant dramatic actor, but he is not another Cary Grant, Burt Reynolds, or Paul Newman, fellows who could do straight dramatic roles and then change gears with comfort into charming, lovable, comedy roles. Voight shows no such ability in "Lookin' to Get Out." Instead, he seems always ill at ease, his character's constant laughing and joking, which the character uses to disguise his vulnerabilities, being more rueful than amusing. It's hard to find a guy funny who is so obviously straining to make the characters around him like him.

As for Ann-Margret, she almost never smiles, as though she's mystified by what's going on around her. Likewise Burt Young, whose Poor Soul of a friend looks as though he would rather just lie down and take a nap somewhere. And, needless to say, the hoods are merely stereotypes who get little screen time. About the only character who shows any life in the movie is Bert Remsen as Smitty. At least he seems to know he's in a comedy.

Oddly, given the attention spent on the script and direction, much of "Lookin' to Get Out" appears improvised, with the actors appearing as though they're having a better time than the audience. Even in its new, longer, supposedly original form, the movie doesn't generate much interest beyond the ordinary.

Video:
Warner engineers use an anamorphic transfer to present the film in its theatrical aspect ratio, 1.85:1 (although as is WB's wont, they actually present it in a 1.78:1 ratio that fits a widescreen TV). It is a film almost three decades old, and Warners probably did little to clarify it up beyond a modest scrubbing of obvious age marks, scratches, and deterioration. As a result, we see a good deal of grain and noise, particularly in darker scenes, and a series of specks that haunt mostly the right side of the screen from time to time. The definition ranges from reasonably sharp to fairly soft and blurred, depending on the scene. Colors are a bit on the dark side, even in daylight shots, and the overall picture can look a tad glossy. Black levels are strong, however, and when colors are good, they are very, very good.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural audio reproduction probably does what it can with the soundtrack, but that isn't saying much. The sound is rather hollow, metallic, and nasal most of the time, as though the actors were miked in a tunnel. Dynamics are decent, though, and the track is free of background noise.

Extras:
There's not much here in the way of extras beyond our getting the extended version of the movie. The only other thing is a fifteen-minute featurette, "Lookin' to Get Out: The Cast Looks Back," wherein Jon Voight, Ann-Margret, Burt Young, and co-screenwriter Al Schwartz reminisce about making the movie. However, I'm afraid they don't add a lot to our understanding of the film that we couldn't gather from the film itself or from the keep-case comments.

In addition, the disc contains twenty-five scene selections; a full-screen theatrical trailer; English as the only spoken language; French subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.

Parting Shots:
If you're a fan of Hal Ashby's movies and haven't already seen "Lookin' to Get Out," the movie may disappoint you. I know it disappointed me. Even in its new extended version, it seems haphazard and frantic, the actors and director trying too hard to be casually comical and too often coming off as simply obvious and histrionic. It might have been better for all concerned that the cast and crew had stuck to doing what they do best and not what seems here too forced and stilted.

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