Married to the Mob - Cinématographe 4K UHD

Angela (Michelle Pfeiffer) is, well, married to the mob, in a sense (hey, that's the name of the movie!). It's not a happy marriage. She even asks for a divorce from her gangster husband, and he just laughs it off. What, is she gonna give up all this? The fancy, new furniture? The clothes? All the things they can provide to their son that they couldn't have themselves growing up? He's right, though. She's not prepared to leave her life of comfort, no matter how unhappy she is. It's not until her husband is murdered that the choice to change her life is thrust upon her. She finds herself at a crossroads--she can sleep with her husband's ex-boss, the man who killed him, or she can go legit, for the first time in her life. She opts for legitimacy and hits the road in search of a job and a new apartment to raise her son.

Fate, it seems, has other plans for her. Her husband's killer, Tony "The Tiger" (Dean Stockwell), has his eyes set on her. He wants to woo her, for her to become his mistress. Then there's FBI Agent Mike Downey (Matthew Modine), who also has his eyes on her, except they actually seem to love each other, but he's hiding the fact that he's a fed, investigating her associations with the mafia. If that weren't enough, Tony's run afoul of a rival gang faction, so there's gunmen and danger lurking behind every corner. But, perhaps most dangerous of all, is Tony's wife, Connie (Merceded Ruehl), who will murder anyone who puts their grubby mitts on her man.

The screenplay by Barry Strugatz and Mark R. Burns (who would go on to write the underrated She-Devil starring Roseanne Barr) is a perfect blend of sensibilities for director Jonathan Demme. Married to the Mob is on the lighter end of his filmography. Something like The Silence of the Lambs, then, would be on the darker end of that spectrum. And something like Something Wild would be smack-dab in the middle. Married to the Mob has a plot that sounds extraordinarily dark, a story about gangsters, murder, jealous wives, and FBI-enabled governmental blackmail. And while it has all that going on, Demme mines the plot for all the humor and levity he can. There's enough room in all of it to find some time to get Chris Isaak shot to death while wearing a goofy clown suit.

Demme has a lot of trademarks as a filmmaker, and beyond the obvious visual ones, like characters talking right into the camera, one of his constants is that he's less interested in the nuts and bolts of the story mechanics and more interested in how his characters react to that plot. It's not interesting how we get from Point A to Point B, to have all these plot elements collide all at once. What's interesting, instead, is how Angela reacts to it all, which she does through a combination of bravery in the face of fear and through sarcastic wit. Michelle Pfeiffer is excellent in the lead role, and everything that happens is anchored by her performance.

For another take on Married to the Mob check out our previous Blu-ray review:
Sam Cohen's Married to the Mob Blu-ray Review 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Married to the Mob comes to 4K UHD Blu-ray courtesy of Cinématographe, Vinegar Syndrome’s label dedicated to unsung classics from American auteurs. The film is printed on two discs, both a 4K UHD Blu-ray and a regular Blu-ray, with the majority of special features found on the second disc. The two discs are housed in a specially designed, cloth-bound media book and custom-molded disc tray, with a slipcase featuring newly commissioned art. The media book features essays by film critics Mitchell Beaupre, Aisha Harris, Nick Newman, and David Stewart.

Cinématographe presents Married to the Mob in 4K resolution, graded in Dolby Vision HDR. While their website doesn't specify the source of the new transfer, it appears to be from a scan of the original camera negative--or, if not, another high-quality source, like a 35mm interpositive. Overall, the results are gorgeous. Details are sharp, and the video presentation is awash in a fine layer of organic film grain. While the HDR can be a bit overcooked at times, the oversaturation works in its favor. Tak Fujimoto's cinematography and the set design color code the story's geography--the old, industrial, monochromatic grays of New York, versus the garish turquoise and pinks when the plot shifts to a very '80s Miami. As a bit of ominous foreboding, in a scene where none of our characters know what kind of danger they're in, they're silhouetted in a red light, like the fiery depths of hell. It's a subtle bit of tension-building, and it looks incredible in this new transfer.

On the audio front, viewers are treated to a great DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track. Like the movie's Miami-set final reel, it is very, very '80s, in the best possible way. Music dominates the mix, packing an appropriate punch in those moments. The score was composed by music legend David Byrne of The Talking Heads, while the soundtrack is populated with needle drops from New Order, Debbie Harry, and Q Lazzarus (Demme used "Goodbye Horses" again on his next film, The Silence of the Lambs). Meanwhile, sound effects like gang-related gunfire explode with fury. As a screwball-inspired comedy, dialogue clarity is given priority, so that all the quips and witticisms are clearly audible, even in the most manic moments of the zany plot.

Married to the Mob comes equipped with tons of new supplements for viewers to make their way through, from audio commentaries to interviews, and a video essay--not to mention the essays in the included booklet within the customized disc tray.

4K Disc

• Audio Commentary - Actor Matthew Modine, moderated by Justin LaLiberty
• Audio Commentary - Writer/podcaster Sean Fennessey

Blu-ray Disc

• Audio Commentary - Actor Matthew Modine, moderated by Justin LaLiberty
• Audio Commentary - Writer/Podcaster Sean Fennessey
• Interview (HD 15:10) - With actor Matthew Modine
• Interview (HD 17:43) - With actor Paul Lazar
• Interview (HD 16:07) - With writers Barry Strugatz and Mark R. Burns
• Interview (HD 22:47) - With producer Edward Saxon
• Interview (HD 14:08) - With storyboard artist John Dahl
• Everyone Deserves a Second Chance (HD 13:55) - Video essay by Chris O'Neill
• Wrong Reel Podcast (Audio Only 1:14:50) - Restoring a Comedy Classic
• Stills Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer

Married to the Mob is a fun entry into the Cinématographe. Not all entries from American auteurs need to be as dour, dark and serious as the most extreme entries on their filmography. And while the plot has darker elements to it, Married to the Mob is Jonathan Demme at his most fun. He's less interested in the violence and tension, but the funny ways people react when they're under the gun. Cinématographe's release boasts excellent video quality (minus a couple of overcooked shots that are few and far between), great sound, and a wealth of newly recorded supplements. Married to the Mob is Highly Recommended.

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