Melissa’s Bluray Review: James McAvoy Is Outrageously Intense In ‘Filth’

The Filth

Look out, Filth is worth every bit of that R rating, in sight as well as sound. If you’re still up for it, what follows is a heartbreaking, devastatingly intimate and intense performance by James McAvoy.

Released last fall in Scotland, Ireland and England, Filth was dropped on American audiences only a few short months ago. Liz and I actually attended a special screening in May, where James McAvoy and Imogen Poots introduced the film. It was a star-studded event with Patrick Stewart and David Bowie amongst the crowd. Vanessa Redgrave inadvertently held the door for me. It was quite the moment. Oh, who’s that? Why it’s Parker Posey. Yeah, it was a good time.

James McAvoy plays Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson, a scheming, manipulative, misanthropic man who spends his time indulging in drugs, alcohol, sexually abusive relationships, and “the games” – cruel plots and systematic bullying of his coworkers and friends. While working on the murder case of a Japanese student, he starts coming unhinged, slowly losing his grip on reality and suffering from a series of increasingly severe hallucinations as he desperately tries to hold his life together.

Filth

Ok, no enough about the movie, I want to talk about the Bluray.

filth blurayBonus Features:

Deleted, extended & alternate scenes
These were pretty amazing and there were not enough of them. I always love seeing the deleted scenes because you often get more of an insight into the character. These extras are much more non-essential to the plot, so I can see why they were cut, but they are still very entertaining.
This really needed some sort of intro to get the context for each scene.

Outtakes
Not nearly enough and the clips are way too long.

On the Set: Merry Filthmas
Eh. Just interviews. Nothing special.

James McAvoy as Detective Bruce Robertson: The Antihero
Snoozefest. After seeing the movie, these feel just like promos, not something highlighting an aspect of the film.

AXS TV: A Look at Filth
Abbreviated featurette is on youtube. Bore.

Jon S. Baird & James McAvoy

Jon S. Baird & James McAvoy

Commentary with Director Jon S. Baird and Author Irvine Welsh
I enjoy watching the movie first, then going back and watching again, but this time with the commentary on. It’s actually pretty awesome to have on in the background. You catch all kinds of stuff. In this, you’ll hear the director talk about deleted scenes and stories from on set. You never know what sorts of things you’ll catch every time you watch it this way.

Here’s what I didn’t like.

The home screen was like a 1995 DVD menu. Still photo with smoke comes out of his mouth. Wow, really? The background music is terribly annoying and repetitive, so much so that I had to put it on mute. Also, there’s no digital copy. To me, that should be offered as standard for every Bluray/DVD.

Some may say this is the dirtier version of Dom Hemingway (which I also loved), but I don’t compare the two at all. Dom Hemingway was a completely different character with a different set of problems. The only thing they have in common is their foul language.

About Melissa Hanson

Melissa Hanson aka Dial M For Melissa - Managing Editor / Podcast Producer - Growing up, Melissa’s favorite destination was always the video store and would agonize over whether to watch something new or to rewatch a favorite. Things have not changed. Follow on Twitter @DialMForMelissa

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