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  • Writer's pictureTyler Foster

The Linguini Incident Blu-ray Review

MVD Visual

Blu-ray Release: July 23rd, 2024

Video: 1.78:1/1080p/Color

Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono

Subtitles: English SDH

Run Time: 92:49

Director: Richard Shepard


In a city known for its nightlife, New York, one of the restaurants attracting the buzziest and most eclectic crowds is Dali, a massive two-story venue owned by Cecil (Buck Henry) and Dante (Andre Gregory), with chic decor and even chic-er clientele. On the other side, taking orders and tending to the bar, are Lucy (Rosanna Arquette) and Monte (David Bowie), both struggling with their own eccentric issues. Lucy dreams of being a magician, drawing inspiration from Houdini's wife; Monte has a gambling problem, and is also looking for someone who is willing to marry him so that he (a Brit) can secure a green card. Their fates become entwined when they both decide to rob the restaurant, a gig which requires the assistance of Lucy's friend, Viv (Eszter Balint).



Last released on DVD in the United States almost 25 years ago in full screen theatrical cut form under the inexplicable title Shag-o-Rama and adorned with equally perplexing 1960s flower power artwork, this new director's cut of The Linguini Incident (admittedly also a bizarre title; of its alternate names, Houdini and Company is the most relevant, if probably misleading) is a cult object that feels like it was just waiting for re-discovery. Presented on Blu-ray by way of a new 4K restoration with changes filmmaker Richard Shepard has always wanted to make, this is an imperfect film that nonetheless offers a certain je ne sais quoi that makes it charmingly memorable.


To get the movie's shortcomings out of the way first, the film's convoluted plot is not of great importance. In addition to the streamlined story laid out in this review's opening paragraph, there's also a major audition coming up for Lucy, a $5000 ring that belonged to Houdini's wife waiting for her at a pawnshop owned by Miracle (Viveca Lindfors), a running bit about a line of defense bras that Viv is developing, a series of escalating bets put on by Cecil and Dante, and no particular sense of urgency when it comes to tying all of this together. Those who need their stories to be tightly plotted will probably find their attention wandering, and meandering approach also applies to the movie's comic timing. The movie is ostensibly a screwball comedy, but it rarely operates at anything resembling a rapid-fire pace; this is a movie content to fire on maybe three cylinders. (Also, near the beginning of the film, when Monte finds Lucy trapped in one of her handcuff tricks, instead of freeing her, he actually climbs into her bed and handcuffs himself to her in an attempt to get her to marry him, and before we're even aware he's talking about a green card marriage. Nothing happens, of course, and he becomes more charming throughout the rest of the film, but it's not the most endearing choice for the movie's romantic lead!)


That said, once the three leads get an oddball friendship going, the movie comes to life. Despite his character's terrible instincts, there is obviously no need to explain that David Bowie has star charisma, and those who have seen Rosanna Arquette in her star-making roles in Desperately Seeking Susan and After Hours will know how charming she is (with this making another great entry in her series of New York City adventures). Personally, though, the movie's secret weapon is Eszter Balint, who many students of '80s and '90s indie cinema will recognize from her equally great work in Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise and Steve Buscemi's Trees Lounge. Not only is she great on her own, especially as she grows into her role as hold-up woman (complete with those self-defense bras), the camaraderie between the three of them is so natural, so unaffected, with Lucy and Viv argue over who deserves to sleep with Monte, and all of them hanging out on the beach discussing the robbery they're planning together. There's also plenty of room around the fringes for some choice zingers from the always-reliable Buck Henry, an unexpected musical performance from Andre Gregory (who is somewhat more lively here than in My Dinner With Andre), and a really entertaining supporting performance by Marlee Matlin as Dali's jaded hostess. One can even spot Bowie's future wife Iman in a brief cameo (they apparently met and fell in love during the production of this film). Ultimately, The Linguini Incident ends up turning into a uniquely charming hang-out movie, where it's a blast just to spend time with these people and see what's happening in their strange little corner of NYC.



Video

Richard Shepard was first approached about doing a new release of The Linguini Incident back in 2021. After a year working to obtain the rights to the film and another year-long hunt for an appropriate source for a 4K restoration, a new 4K restoration of Shepard's director's cut was completed in 2023, which has now been brought to Blu-ray after a theatrical rerelease. It's unclear what the source was; the packaging says that the interpositive was used, but in the documentary, Shepard says it's the negative for the longer cut. In either case, this is a very nice, film-like transfer with pleasantly vibrant colors and nice detail, even if said detail and especially depth aren't as great as some other films from the same era. Still, if this was done using the interpositive, I would say this is easily one of the best transfers I've ever seen where the negative wasn't available, and there's no question that fans who have been watching the film on various old full screen DVDs for years will be over the moon with this new version.


Audio

Sound is an LPCM 2.0 mono track. Dialogue is prioritized and has a pleasing clarity. Thomas Newman's score, by comparison, is jaunty and sounds adequate but sometimes feels a bit flat in comparison to the dialogue, particularly during the movie's brief heist sequence, when the music is meant to be at its most boisterous. Still, all in all, the movie sounds fine. English SDH subtitles are also provided. As with so many releases these days, there are a few spelling, formatting, and punctuation errors (I believe "Monte" is always spelled "Monty," for example), although I don't recall any of it being so wrong it messes up the movie.


Extras

For this US home video release of The Linguini Incident, the first in 24 years, MVD Visual has gone all-out with the extras, producing a treasure trove of new and archival features.


  • Introduction by director/co-writer Richard Shepard (2:26) - Shepard shows off one of the original clapboards from the shoot, and explains the journey from the theatrical version to the director's cut.

  • "The Making of The Linguini Incident" feature-length documentary (1:44:26) - This is a very charming and meaty behind-the-scenes piece, featuring new interviews with Shepard, Arquette, Balint, Matlin, co-writer Brott, and several other members of the crew, all of which moves along at a great clip. The piece tracks the movie's somewhat questionable financing, casting (including the story of initially getting Shelley Winters for the Viveca Lindfors role, and the story of that falling apart), costume and production design, shooting in Los Angeles instead of New York, Shepard's struggles directing the movie (including a near-breakdown), the post-production process including scoring and the contentious editing process, opening during the L.A. riots and resulting curfew, Shepard spiraling after the film's failure, and finally recutting it, and everyone's fondness for the movie. Of course, throughout the documentary, there's plenty of memories of Bowie, including a great clip of him being interviewed by Bryant Gumbel for the film, and during the credits, there's also a fun, if extremely brief discussion of the movie's strange title. Had this been the only bonus feature, it'd be a great disc; it's been awhile since I've seen a new behind-the-scenes documentary this enjoyable and substantial.


  • Audio commentary by director/co-writer Richard Shepard - I watched the documentary first, and as such, this commentary definitely contains quite a bit of overlap in his stories and view of the film, but he does a good job of keeping his chat screen-specific, which inspires more granular memories and details about the making of the film than the ones he discusses in the video piece. For example, in one early scene, he points out a moment where CGI was used to correct a gaffe for this new cut, and a PA who accidentally ends up on camera in another. Those who liked his stories in the documentary will enjoy listening to this and hearing more detailed versions of those stories, along with various little additional bits of trivia and insight about specific lines and bit players, as well as noting some of the changes he made between the two cuts of the film.

  • Audio commentary by director Richard Shepard, actors Rosanna Arquette and Eszter Balint, co-producer Sarah Jackson, and co-writer Tamar Brott, moderated by Heath Holland - As one can guess just looking at the lineup, this is a less organized commentary than Shepard's solo track. Sound quality is also a bit more muffled than the solo track, and as a result, the movie's volume ends up cutting in a little more than it does on the other commentary. The participants are obviously not all in the same room, so there is also some mild awkwardness with people not being entirely sure when to start talking, and once again, some of the same stories are told a third time, making this arguably the least-essential of the new substantial extras. Still, it is fun to hear the dynamic between the participants, which isn't something present in the documentary, even with the occasional "Zoom call" hesitation and confusion, and there are a few stories and memories sprinkled throughout that aren't covered in the other extras.

  • Original theatrical version of The Linguini Incident (1:38:22) - A full-frame SD transfer, probably the one used on those Shag-o-Rama DVDs. Fans of the new director's cut will find this worth watching just as a curiosity; even a sampling of the first ten minutes reveals some notable differences between the new cut and the old one, such as a much clearer explanation that Monte is looking for a green card.

  • Photo Gallery (5:55) - Not a traditional DVD or Blu-ray photo gallery; this is actually a narrated animated slideshow, with voice-over by Shepard explaining each photo and the people in it. Preferable to a standard gallery.

  • Theatrical Trailers - Includes both the original 1991 theatrical trailer and the new 2024 trailer for the director's cut.


The one-disc release comes with a matte cardboard slipcover with the new artwork on the front (which, in a weird way, keeps to the slightly misleading tradition of Shag-o-Rama; you could be forgiven for glancing at it and thinking the movie is set in the 1930s). Inside, there is a transparent Viva Elite Blu-ray case with a reversible sleeve (although the alternate art is so generic you wonder why they even bothered), and there is a booklet featuring an essay by Graham Rinaldi, and a second by Richard Shepard. Unfortunately, something has gone wrong in the production of the booklet, with the pages of the essays ending up completely out of order. After some looking and checking, the correct order to read the pages in are as follows, with Page 1 being the inside of the front cover and page 15 being the back cover: 1, 14, 13, 2, 3, 12, 11, 4, 5, 10, 9, 6, 7, 8, and 15. I also removed the staples to see if the booklet was merely collated incorrectly, but the error is part of the printing and there is no way to reassemble the booklet in the correct order. I have reached out to MVD on Facebook; while I doubt they would pay to reprint the booklet, I suggested they could upload a PDF of the corrected layout to their website so that enterprising owners could get it reprinted.



Conclusion

Shepard admits, in interviews elsewhere and on this disc, that the rhythms of The Linguini Incident are a bit of an acquired taste, and it's true that the movie never achieves the kind of rapid-fire screwball energy it seems to be going for. Yet, that warts-and-all quality is one of the most endearing things about this cult oddity, which is a must-see for multiple demographics: fans of Bowie, fans of Arquette, and fans of 1980s New York cult cinema. The disc looks great and is packed with extras -- highly recommended.


The images on this page are taken from the Blu-ray and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images.

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