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The Movie

City of
Ghosts
represents the directorial
debut of actor Matt Dillon, who co-wrote the screenplay with Barry Gifford. The
film begins with news footage of a Class 4 Hurricane bearing down upon a coastal
community. Homes are decimated by the natural disaster, but the harried
residents feel confident that, while their houses have been destroyed, their
Disaster Insurance should take care of their damages. Unfortunately, they were
sold fraudulent policies from their insurer, whose owner Marvin (James Caan) has
fled to Cambodia. Jimmy, the insurer’s senior sales executive (Matt Dillon)
is investigated by the FBI, who rules that he “comes up clean” and, as an
innocent dupe, had nothing to do with the fraud. Jimmy soon finds himself
in Cambodia to track Marvin down. It turns out that he was in on the
scam all along, and is now looking for his piece of the
cut.

So begins City of Ghosts, a compelling,
well-acted, and satisfying if flawed film from first-time director Dillon. The
film features an absolute first-rate ensemble cast, including Dillon, James
Caan, Gerard Depardieu, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, and Kem Sereybuth.
The film features some fine cinematography that brings out the exotic best of
the Cambodian countryside. Dillon’s direction is generally well-handled if
occasionally shaky. The main problem in the film is a general lack of focus
pertaining to the film’s overall plot. The film is nearly two hours long, and
could use some rather judicious editing. The film tends to sag and meander in
its middle section, and it takes awhile for the film to regain its footing. But
what City of
Ghosts lacks
in flourish and overt style, it recovers in its evocative tone: the film feels
gritty, dirty, and realistic in a way that never seems forced or artificial.
City of Ghosts may not be a perfect film, but it earns marks for
attempting to paint a smart, world-weary, and gritty setting while allowing its
suspenseful storyline to develop.

The DVD

Video:

The video on City of Ghosts is
quite remarkable. Presented in its original widescreen theatrical ratio of
1.78:1 and anamorphically-enhanced for your widescreen viewing ecstasy, the
picture demonstrates remarkable depth and vibrancy. Color schemes are bright,
lush, and vibrant, with sharp contrast levels that resonate with stunning
brights and deep, rich blacks. Shadow delineation demonstrates reasonable levels
of structure and detail. The image displays exhibits sharpness and clarity,
although a few scenes occasionally come off as soft and underdeveloped. The
transfer was mostly clean, but there was occasional evidence of speckling and
wear on the print (a pronounced vertical line is visible during several
seconds.) There is no discernable compression noise or telltale
pixellation.

Audio:

The audio is delivered in Dolby Digital 5.1. The overall
delivery is predominantly centered in the front stage, resulting in a pleasing
if not overly aggressive or immersive experience. Dialog levels appear to be
concisely rendered, with a remarkable amount of warmth and clarity. The front
stage is spaciously developed, demonstrating a strong field of depth and concise
directionality. Surrounds are used sparingly for background and ambient noise,
and LFE activity is minimal. This is a solid and acceptable audio
delivery.

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Extras:

The City of Ghosts DVD
contains a feature-length audio commentary with actor/co-writer/director Matt Dillion and co-writer Barry Gifford.
While
the tone of the track is decidedly low-key, Dillon
and Gifford offer an informative commentary which provides plenty of production anecdotes and
background details about the various locations, settings, and actors. They
also delve deeply into the genesis of the project and its
eventual production, and Dillon’s remarks are surprisingly candid and personal. There
is also a soundtrack spot which is little more than a short
advertisement for the soundtrack album. Rounding out the supplements are the
film’s theatrical trailer as well as
trailers for other MGM releases, including It Runs in the
Family, Together, Bulletproof Monk, Nicholas
Nickelby, and Dead Like Me.

Final Thoughts

While not without its flaws,
City of Ghosts
remains a generally compelling and worthwhile film. As a first-time director,
Matt Dillion acquits himself well as a filmmaker with promising storytelling
skills. With its remote locations, gritty and hard-hitting subject
matter, and strong pedigree of acting talent, City of Ghosts
remains generally intriguing, although its various flaws detract from the
film’s overall quality. Nonetheless, for a lower-tier release MGM has put
together a worthwhile package for fans of the film.

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