Verdict
Summary
In a lot of ways, Cutter’s Way is a grungier, even more cynical riff of Chinatown, and it deserves its great reputation.
Radiance Films has just released a two-disc limited edition (5000 copies) of Cutter’s Way, and their treatment far exceeds the previous Blu-ray from Twilight Time. The 4K presentation is gorgeous and should last the test of time, and they’ve pulled out all the stops to encase the discs in a hardshell slipcover, including a thick booklet, and there are tons of bonus features as well. A standout release from one of the best boutique labels out there, this one is a keeper.
Plot:
A gigolo is the only witness to a disposal of a murder victim, and his buddy, a disabled veteran, pushes him to investigate the man who is likely the culprit.
Review:
A charming gigolo unironically named Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges) is on his way home from a gig when his car breaks down in an alley where another car almost runs him over after he sees the other driver disposing of trash in a dumpster. He has no idea that he’s just witnessed a crime because the man disposed of a dead body – a 17 year-old girl – in the trash. Bone leaves his car in the alley and catches up to his roommate Cutter (John Heard), an alcoholic and disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in a humble house with his wife Mo (Lisa Eichhorn), who is quietly in love with Bone, who has been living with them for awhile. The next morning, detectives arrest Bone and grill him for hours because his car was found within just a few feet of the corpse in the alley, and they figure he might be innocent, but his witness testimony is shaky at best. Later that day, Bone and Cutter are at a parade and the mascot of the festival is a local oil tycoon, and immediately Bone realizes that this was the man he saw the night before in the alley. Instead of going to the police, Cutter convinces Bone – with a little persuasion by the dead girl’s sister Valerie (Ann Dusenberry) – to go off the book and blackmail the oil tycoon into confessing of the murder, but their plan goes completely off the rails when Cutter takes the whole thing personally and all but forces Bone into an unwinnable quest.
Based on a novel and directed by Ivan Passer, the downbeat film noir-esque odyssey Cutter’s Way has one of the bleakest last acts of a film I can think of from a major studio (United Artists) to be released in the post-Vietnam era. Its performances are incredibly sensitive and spot-on, particularly from Heard, who completely overpowers the film with his risky portrayal of a broken down veteran. Bridges does a really solid job too, but this film will always be Heard’s. In a lot of ways, this is a grungier, even more cynical riff of Chinatown, and it deserves its great reputation.
Radiance Films has just released a two-disc limited edition (5000 copies) of Cutter’s Way, and their treatment far exceeds the previous Blu-ray from Twilight Time. The 4K presentation is gorgeous and should last the test of time, and they’ve pulled out all the stops to encase the discs in a hardshell slipcover, including a thick booklet, and there are tons of bonus features as well. A standout release from one of the best boutique labels out there, this one is a keeper.
Bonus Materials
- New 4K restoration from the original camera negative
- Option to view with the original Cutter and Bone title sequence, newly scanned for the first time
- Uncompressed mono audio
- Piety, Patriotism and Violence: The Legacy of Cutter and Bone: new featurette on the legacy of Cutter’s Way with contributions from writers Megan Abbott, Jordan Harper, and George Pelecanos
- Archival audio commentary by novelist Matthew Specktor
- Archival audio commentary by film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman
- Archival audio commentary by assistant director Larry Franco and unit production manager Barrie Osborne
- Archival video interviews with actor Lisa Eichhorn, UA Classics exec Ira Deutchman, director Ivan Passer, Jeffrey Alan Fiskin, and producer Paul Gurian
- Archival video featurette on composer Jack Nitzsche
- Archival audio introduction by star Jeff Bridges
- Archival video introduction by director Bertrand Tavernier
- Theatrical trailers
- Isolated music track
- Optional English SDH subtitle track
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
- Limited edition 80 page bound book featuring new writing from Christina Newland, Nick Pinkerton, and Travis Woods, plus an archival interview with Ivan Passer
- Limited edition of 5000 copies, presented in rigid box and full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
