Keeping with the dark theme of the month, Plush has been released on DVD with a story that starts out like a rock star concert then turns wicked in a torrid finale. The movie is directed by Catherine Hardwicke who gave us the first installment of The Twilight Saga and several other teen angst films. It’s not her best, but the acting here is worth the watch and the Pop Rock musical score gives the feel of listening to a concert by Paramore. And, the stars of this film do the vocals and with surprising style.
The young rock band Plush lead by brother Jack (Thomas Dekker) and sister Hayley (Emily Browning) has been drawing large audiences and their fan base has been going through the roof. The hits keep coming with Jack and Hayley writing the music and lyrics together. The fans feel very tight with the group and many follow them from city to city on their tours. During one of the tours Hayley meets news writer Carter (Cam Gigandet) and in a whirlwind romance they get married.
One night after a concert Hayley finds Jack in a coma from a drug overdose and he dies. Lost without him she retreats to her husband for solace and the band starts taking a downturn when Hayley chooses to write morbid songs about Jack. She even does a tour with her newest album dedicated to her brother. Things start getting worse until she meets Enzo (Xavier Samuel) who after a quick audition becomes her lead guitar player replacing Jack. When the money starts to roll in again, Enzo makes some moves on Hayley and starts invading the privacy of Carter and Hayley’s home life starting the trio on a collision course.
Director Catherine Hardwicke pushes the envelope slowly letting her viewers become infused in her script. She adds stimulus at every turn creating a number of spikes to her plot. She hopes the audience will grasp all the straws, but not figure which one will break the camel’s back until the end of the story. Hardwicke unfortunately complicates her story with clues to the impending conflict and if you miss one or two, you may find yourself asking questions. But, being that you only have to rewind or start the film over to verify the means, it’s all good.
The acting by Emily Browning as Hayley gets very sumptuous as she molds the rock star into a Joan Jet or even Hayley Willams. Her style is actually very good and voice not bad either. She’s the feisty little actress who replaced Mia Wasikowska in Sleeping Beauty and played Babydoll in action thriller Sucker Punch. Here she creates her own character under the guidance of Hardwicke and her Hayley is convincing and enjoyable to watch.
Her costar Xavier Samuel has been a rising star of late being cast in films like The Twilight Saga: Eclipse as Riley and Anonymous playing the Earl of South Hampton. His Enzo character has to be suave, look rock star and out stage Hayley and he does that and more. Enzo’s a person of two faces both fighting for power, sex and fame. Under the wing of Hardwicke he puts on his best performance both off and on the rock stage in this film that uses lyrics to emulate drama, intimacy and pain.
The DVD has a couple of special features that are very cool. Both “Half of Me Remix” and “Enzo Unleashed” show the rock star power that the film creates with Enzo and Hayley doing the vocals. Please do not play the features until you have watched the movie as there are way too many plot spoilers.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround needs some help to blow the room apart during the rock concert, but turned up high it’s enough to make your ear drums take notice. If you have an upgraded sound system attached to your television you will probably feel like you are at the film opening concert especially if your surround speakers and bass get pushed.
The video, while not Blu-ray quality does a pretty good job of holding your attention while the gripping and sensual story gets played out. I found the concert scenes a little grainy at times and most of the dark scenes could have used a better lighting technique. The finale could have been better handled with some less focusing problems, unless that’s the way Hardwicke wanted it to look.
Plush has been rated R by the MPAA for sexual material, violence, language and some drug use. It’s geared more toward teens and twenties who are into pop rock.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Emily Browning, Xavier Samuel, Cam Gigandet, Thomas Dekker, Frances Fisher, Dawn Olivieri
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
MPAA Rating: R for sexual material, violence, language and some drug use
Genre: Thriller, Pop Rock
Running Time: 1 hr 40 min
Video Release Date: October 15, 2013
Original Film Release Date: September 13, 2013
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: HD Widescreen Enhanced for 16×9 Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: Millennium Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
