BV (Ryan Gosling; La La Land) and Cook (Michael Fassbender; X-Men: Days of Future Past) have a tenuous partnership. Cook is a successful music producer and BV is a musician who is working with and learning from Cook. Faye (Rooney Mara; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is a struggling musician who works for Cook in hopes he will help her get her big break. They also have a charged sexual relationship as Cook has an interestingly amorous appetite. When BV and Faye meet they hit it off and start dating, thus beginning the unusual love triangle.
Said love triangle becomes more entangled when Cook meets and (sort of) marries small town waitress Rhonda (Natalie Portman; Black Swan). At first, Rhonda is enamored with everything Cooks money can give her but she becomes disillusioned and ultimately ends her life. Meanwhile, Faye finally comes clean to BV about Cook, which ends their relationship (at least for a time). By the end, I don't think any of them end up where they thought they would initially.
Malick has a distinct eye and his visuals are unique and interesting. However, this film takes a while to get going, so there is a slowness to it that most audiences would probably find annoying in today's day and age of shoot ‘em instant gratification. His knack for creating the electric sexual undercurrent throughout the film should be commended. While we rarely see an actual lovemaking scene, the smallest of glances and touches ignite the screen.
As previously mentioned, Malick works with some big named actors and Song to Song is no different. I'm not typically a Gosling fan but I actually liked him as BV. He had an authenticity to him that works in this role. Fassbender is excellent as the typical music producer who has a "God" Complex and thinks he is better than he actually is. Mara's introspective vibe is exactly what we need to try and understand her struggle. She seems jaded in the music realm but has an almost" lost little girl" quality about her that is who Faye truly is. Portman is well cast as the naïve young woman swept into a world she doesn't really understand. The cast also includes cameos by other famous actors and musicians alike including Val Kilmer (Top Gun), Cate Blanchett (Thor: Ragnarok), Holly Hunter (The Piano), Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Lykke Li, Anthony Kiedis and Florence Welch.
The 4k Blu-ray offers stunning visuals and the 2160p video quality enhances the pictures beautifully. Malick knows how to frame a picture in order to tell a story and those pictures shine with the excellent quality of 4K. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is outstanding on this particular feature but I would hope so since the film surrounds itself with great music. The dialogue is beautifully showcased on the center channels while the soundtrack and concert noise are relegated to the side speakers. The audience gets the feeling of being enveloped by the music which I can only guess is what Malick was going for.
The Combo pack only offers one special feature which is a 2-minute segment called the Music behind the movie. Frankly, for a movie surrounded by songs I expected a little more from the feature. As with other Broad Green releases, the package does not include a Digital Download.
If you are into the Avante Garde or are prepared for a Malick helmed movie, you will want to own this film.
Grade: C
