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Racer And The Jailbird tells of the relationship between racing driver Bénédicte Delhany (Adèle Exarchopoulos – Blue Is The Warmest Colour) and bank robber Gigi Vanoirbeek (Matthias Schoenaerts – Red Sparrow), known to their friends as Bibi and Gigi.
She does her automobile driving while he does his automobile wheeling and dealing, buying and selling cars, or so he tells her initially, but she susses him out and doesn’t like his lies. But of course, he’s a man, and men all lie, huh? Ugh, they are the WORST, I tells ya!!
And as hot as Ms Exarchopoulos is, she really can’t be taken seriously as a Formula 1 racing driver, as she hasn’t got the build for it and has zero muscles, so that’s like lying to the viewer… Still, the way she is, is just perfect anyway 😉
Seriously, though, Racer And The Jailbird is just not very exciting when it’s meant to be. For the early bank heist scene, it’s like the director saw the original Point Break, thought he’d copy it and then not bother to inject any life into it. We learn their next heist will be a big one, and they have to carry it out before all the banks start changing things up to using explosive cases for the money, but… it clashes with a weekend away for the two leads. Awww… true love, eh?
This second job is nicely planned out, though, but does it all go to plan. Well, the title rather gives a hint about that… but this isn’t a film where the plot is based around a lengthy court case, it’s about the relationship between the pair.
The film’s divided into two sections – Gigi and Bibi – but unlike The Affair where the same scenes played out twice, the two sections follow consecutively. A third section also acts as a conclusion. Most films have three acts, but these aren’t all in equal lengths, and they each feature both characters.
There is a bit more to this film, than a typical romantic drama though, as you’ll find out since it didn’t pan out exactly as I was expecting. However, the relationship between the two is quite dull and ‘good girl falls for bad boy’ is something we’ve seen before and it doesn’t do a whole lot different with that particular aspect.
The film is presented in the original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio and in 1080p high definition, and as you’d expect for a major new release, the print is sharp and the picture has zero problems whether showing the bright daytime race-track scenes, or the dark Parisian streets.
The audio is in DTS HD-MA 5.1, and while there’s nothing major in the split-surround department as it’s mostly dialogue. I couldn’t even remember any sort of a score.
The extras are as follows:
- InterviewsThese are Q&As with the “Q” as a caption and the “A” with the person featured talking to someone off-camera. Basically, it’s the sort puff piece the likes of BBC Breakfast can slot into their own features when a film’s being released.
With dialogue in French and with English subtitles added, there’s director/co-writer Michaël R Roskam (17:24), Adèle Exarchopoulos (5:37) and Matthias Schoenaerts (15:23).
- Trailer (1:36): In the original 2.35:1 theatrical ratio. It’s none too spoilery, either.
- Also available from Thunderbird Releasing (4:50): Yes, unlike most other distributors, Thunderbird know that trailers for other movies go in the extras menu and NOT before the main menu appears. Yay!
They’re trailers for Redoubtable, Disorder and Bullhead, the latter two also starring Matthias Schoenaerts, with the last one also being directed by Michaël R Roskam.
There’s slightly more than the bog-standard 12 chapters on this disc… as there’s 14, English subtitles are on by default and cannot be switched off via the menu, although I use a PS4 and you can switch them off within the PS4’s own menu from your controller. The menu features a static shot of the cover with a small piece of the theme accompanying it.
Racer And The Jailbird is out now on Blu-ray, DVD and Amazon Prime, and check out the full-size cover by clicking on the packshot.
Also available is the CD soundtrack.
|
FILM PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
4 10 7 4 |
| OVERALL | 6 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 131 mins
Year: 2018
Distributor: Thunderbird Releasing
Released: September 10th 2018
Chapters: 14
Cat.no: TRL413BDR0
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
Languages: French
Subtitles: English
Widescreen: 2.35:1
Disc Format: BD50
Director: Michaël R Roskam
Producers: Pierre-Ange Le Pogam and Bart Van Langendonck
Screenplay: Thomas Bidegain, Noé Debré and Michaël R Roskam
Music: Raf Keunen
Cast:
Bibi Delhany: Adèle Exarchopoulos
Gigi Vanoirbeek: Matthias Schoenaerts
Freddy Delhany: Eric De Staercke
Serge Flamand: Jean-Benoît Ugeux
Younes Bouhkris: Nabil Missoumi
Bernard ‘Nardo’ Delhany: Thomas Coumans
Sandra: Nathalie Van Tongelen
Eric Lejeune: Fabien Magry
Prison manager: Sam Louwyck
Bank manager: Stefaan Degand
Bezne: Kerem Can
Monsieur Assa: Serge Riaboukine
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.