THE UNDOING – A Blu-ray/DVD and Digital HD Review by John Strange

THE UNDOING – A Blu-ray/DVD and Digital HD Review by John Strange

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray^tm I reviewed in this Blog Post.  The opinions I share are my own.

When I look for a movie to watch for pleasure, I often investigate more than the plot and the principal acting talent.  I look at the writer(s) and the director, and to a lesser extent, the producing staff.  The Undoing hits on many of the criteria I look for.

Seeing David E. Kelley’s name on the list as one of the writers caught my eye immediately.  I have enjoyed his work for many, many years.  He is very skilled at writing this genre of show/film.  And his ability to keep you interested and guessing is superb.

The Undoing revolves around a family of aristocratic New York City citizens, two doctors and their school-aged son.  We see their lives as being rather happy and content.  And it is.  On the surface.

But this is a murder mystery, and their lives are thrown into chaos when a young woman is brutally murdered and the husband, Jonathan Fraser (Hugh Grant) is accused of the crime.  It doesn’t help his case any that he disappears early the next morning, leaving on a work trip without his phone.  

Kelley’s script is excellent and director Susanne Bier did an amazing job bringing it to life.  She and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle made this show a joy to watch with the city of New York as much a character in the story as any of the people.  Mantle’s camera work capturing each of the scenes and focusing so much of our attention on Dr. Grace Fraser (Nicole Kidman) as she comes to grips with the disaster that has shattered her once happy life was awesome.

The supporting cast of this show rounds out an ensemble of talent second to none.  Donald Sutherland as Grace’s father, Franklin Reinhardt, was frightening in his desire to protect his family.  His scene with the school’s principal was chilling.  Young Noah Jupe, as Grace’s son Henry, played his exceedingly difficult and challenging role to perfection.  Detective Joe Mendoza played by Edgar Ramírez was great.  But the best was Ismael Cruz Cordova as Fernando Alves.  Portraying Fernando required extraordinary skill as he displayed the emotions of the murdered woman’s husband.

This is a thriller, a suspenseful story that keeps you guessing right up to, well, the writer takes pity on you.  Personally, my thoughts on the identity of the guilty party changed several times during the six one-hour episodes as we learned more and more back story on the characters and the plot.

But I digress, the best part of any home release is the set of bonus extras.  The Undoing has an interesting set of extras.  “Kidman and Hugh Grant Introduce The Undoing” is the featurette that I would expect from David E. Kelley to introduce one of his shows.  It’s interesting and gives you a good grounding in advance of watching it.

“The Undoing Revelations” is a set of eleven featurettes where the acting talent talks about their characters.  These are excellent!  Again, these are a great fit with Mr. Kelley’s style.  “Creating The Undoing” gives us Hugh, Nicole, and Susanne’s description of the show and how it was made.  It includes all of the principal talent adding their impressions and views on the show.  Like the other featurettes, it’s a great watch.

The disk doesn’t have “Director’s Commentary” as such but the extras we did receive are great for giving us the background and feeling for this story.  I don’t feel like we missed out on anything not having this extra.

The Undoing is an excellent limited series with an amazing cast.  5-stars for all aspects of this show and home-offering!

Director:

• Susanne Bier

Cast:

• Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, Edgar Ramírez,

Episodes:

1. The Undoing
2. The Missing
3. Do No Harm
4. See No Evil
5. Trial by Fury
6. The Bloody Truth

Extras:

Digital:

• Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant Introduce The Undoing
• Creating The Undoing
• The Undoing Revelations

Blu-ray/DVD:

• Disk 1
  • The Undoing Revelations
    • The Frasier Family
    • Elena Alvez
    • Jonathan Fraser
    • Sylvia Steinetz
    • Detective Joe Mendoza
    • Grace Reinhart Fraser
    • Haley Fitzgerald
  • Disk 2
    • Kidman and Hugh Grant Introduce The Undoing
    • Creating The Undoing
    • The Undoing Revelations
      • Fernando Alves
      • Franklin Reinhart
      • Henry Frasier
      • The Bridge Scene

Specifications:

Runtime:

Feature:

• 360 Minutes

Enhanced Content:

• 27 Minutes

Studio:

• Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.

Release Date:

• 03/23/2021

Region:

• A/1 (U.S. and Canada only)

Website:

• https://www.hbo.com/the-undoing

Trailer:

• THE UNDOING Trailer

MPAA Rating:

• TV-MA

Selig Rating:

Film Rating:

• 5 Stars

Bonus Features Rating:

• 5 Stars

Picture Quality Rating:

• 5 Stars

Audio Quality Rating:

• 5 Stars

Selig Rating Scale:

5 Stars: Should add to your DVD collection at any cost

4 Stars: Worth owning, but try to catch it a sale

3 Stars: Plan to get it, but wait to buy it used

2 Stars: Worth taking a look at, but not owning

1 Star: Pick it up at a garage sale and use it for drinks

0 Stars: Makes a great Trap Shooting target