Plot: What’s it about?
My life consists of routine. Most of ours do. I’ve got my television shows that I watch, my daytime work and of course a perpetual onslaught of Blu-ray’s that need watching. But in what “free time” I do have, I was looking for something a bit…more. So a few months ago I posed a question to my Facebook friends looking for something new to watch. A new television show? A new series? It didn’t really matter, just something new to watch. As it turns out a fellow member of the Blu-ray Authority staff suggested I watch 11.22.63. I’d heard of it, knew that Stephen King had written the novel and that James Franco was in it. And that’s about it. But I, like a lot of other folks, am curious about the JFK assassination so I figured it’d be worth a shot. That and Oliver Stone’s JFK is one of my favorite modern films. As I’ll explain in more detail below, this miniseries poses the question “what if you could go back in time and prevent JFK from being killed?” I’m willing to be that there isn’t a soul alive that wishes they could turn back the hands of time and right at least some wrong. Right? Stephen King’s novel/miniseries deals with this in a very oddly specific way, but it works. Intrigued? Of course you are. Read on.
Jake Epping (James Franco) is a high school teacher who loves his work. He’s tired of his students, but doesn’t let that get him down. His friend and owner of the local diner, Al (Chris Cooper) has discovered a way to travel back in time. After contacting Cancer, Al reveals this to Jake who then takes the reigns and continues Al’s work. It’s not as easy as it sounds though. When Jake enters the diner’s closet, he’s transported back to a specific date in the past, October 21, 1960 to be exact. Should he, at any time, decide to go back to the present, everything he’s done will be reset. And if he does travel back to the present, only a few minutes will have passed there. The story follows Jake as he gets acclimated to the past, different clothes and people he meets. He’s got a fairly specific plan as what to do and three years in which to execute it. Along the way he meets Sadie (Sarah Gadon) who may or may not become his love interest as well as his sidekick/brother Bill (George MacKay). There are the usual suspects as well as we meet Lee Harvey Oswald (Daniel Webber) and his wife Marina (Lucy Fry). Suffice it to say that things don’t always go according to plan as the past has tendency to “fight back” in that it doesn’t want to be changed. The obvious question is: will he prevent JFK from being assassinated and if so, what are the ramifications of that one event?
This is an intriguing concept for a miniseries and Stephen King had originally wanted to turn it into a feature film. However Executive Producer J.J. Abrams suggested that the novel “be allowed to breathe” and suggested a miniseries which King was fine with. Franco had expressed interest in the project and even directed one of the episodes. Granted, there is a lot that’s left unanswered. Wouldn’t changing such a dramatic event have far-fetching consequences? Of course. It’s speculated that had JFK not been killed, there would have been no Vietnam war and so forth. While the majority of the series shows how Franco’s character manages to make his master plan work, it’s the details that were really very intriguing. It’s not perfect, mind you, there are a lot of “holes” in things and dealing with a movie about time travel will never be an open and shut thing. That’s just the nature of the beast. Still, the cast is competent and Franco really does a good job of anchoring the entire series. It’ll make you think, that’s for sure. While not King’s best adaptation, I found it a good use of my time and something that I think the vast majority of viewers will enjoy.
Video: How’s it look?
The miniseries comes to Blu-ray in a two disc set that practically sparkles it’s so clear. The 1.78:1 AVC HD image is razor sharp, the colors of “yesteryear” are bright and bold and detail is everything we’d expect it to be. Being a new to Blu-ray feature, we can and should have expected this and Warner’s disc delivers the goods. I really wasn’t able to find any instance of artifacting, DNR, macro blocking or anything of the like. Being over 400+ minutes, pretty much every color of the spectrum is encompassed. There are overly dark scenes, bright scenes, but the vast majority takes place indoors. The image is never challenged in the least. It epitomizes what we’ve come to expect from a new to Blu-ray film.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack isn’t the most robust out there, but is does have a few moments. These are most prevalent when the past “fights back” when a random car nearly takes off Jake’s head, a chandelier falls or a few gunshots are shown on screen. Vocals are pure and crisp, lacking any and all distortion (not that we’d expect any). Surrounds are used, sparingly, but do add some much-needed ambiance to the show. It’s a good, well-balanced mix that’s sure to please.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Sadly, for all the talent involved, all we get is one 15 minute featurette.
- When the Future Fights Back – The main players of the miniseries are shown including James Franco, J.J. Abrams as well as conversations with Stephen King and screenwriter Bridget Carpenter. It’s a good, well-rounded, look at the film but I feel there could have been much more to talk about.
The Bottom Line
If you’re a fan of time travel, or Stephen King, or James Franco or obsess about the Kennedy assassination well then this might be for you. I found it intriguing, but not without its faults. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, but the lack of any real supplements (aside from the one featurette) might be a turn off for some. Still, it’s an interesting watch and something that can kill time on a weekend.
