- Actors: Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante, Patrick O'Neal, Lee Richardson
- Directors: Sidney Lumet
- Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Colour, DVD-Video, NTSC
- Language English, Spanish
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 2.35:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: R (Restricted) (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- DVD Release Date: 4 Feb 2003
- Run Time: 132 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00007AJG5
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 188,851 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
A grim, disheartening view of the underside of city life, Q & A is a legal drama with a disturbing twist. Not exactly a whodunit--the guilt of policeman Nick Nolte is established early on--the plot follows the closing of the circle around him. Leading the murder investigation is Timothy Hutton’s young, idealistic district attorney Al Reilly, who finds himself battling a fraudulent and cynical culture. Racism, corruption and political machinations are all added to the mix, resulting in a film that is just a little too dense and slow moving to capture the imagination.
Director Sidney Lumet creates a feeling of enveloping darkness around Hutton, who slowly manages to let the light in and bring the truth to the surface. With an obviously small budget, the film has more of a made-for-television feel than that of a big blockbuster and some of the performances err too much on the side of cliché. The concept of the New York melting pot is fairly effectively dismissed by the film, painting a picture of distrust between communities that often spills into verbal and physical violence. Not quite as unremittingly bleak as Harvey Kietel’s Bad Lieutenant, Q & A is still a tough, dark piece of cinema.
On the DVD: Q & A is very much a film of the night, with much of the action taking place either in the shadows or in rooms with harsh, artificial light. The picture on the DVD reflects that perfectly, although the lack of budget is hard to disguise. The soundtrack quality is good, if not startling, but there are no extras aside from the movie’s theatrical trailer. All in all, it’s a fairly average package. --Phil Udell
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Nick Nolte a corrupt New York policeman commits 1 crime too many in this i think thrilling tale.The film charts his downfall at the hands of a new lawyer on the block. The cast is excellent as is the script. Ruben Blades provides music.
Watch it for sure.
Watch it for sure.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This film is definitely dark, both actually and metaphorically. The interior shots are often shot in gloomy interiors or under harsh lighting, in Lumet's trademark style. The exterior shots are overpoweringly glaring by contrast. This serves to point up the darkness of the material and the almost hopeless sense of defeat that the film concludes on.
The film is carried -- driven - by an astonishing performance by Nick Nolte whose physical bulk is emphasised by the camera angles. Nolte's characterisation of the central character of Mike Brennan is superb -- the need to be centre of attention, the casual domination of his colleagues, even the over-emphasis of the droopy moustache as a contribution to the shape of the character. Nolte is menace personified: a swaggering bully; a hair-trigger temper wrapped in apparent bonhomie; the alpha male in the pack; generous with his friendship as long as unquestioning loyalty comes in return. All the other characters pale in the face of this bravura display of acting.
This is an excellent film carrying all Lumet's trademark philosophical baggage: the individual (good or bad) standing out against society's flow; a distorted sense of loyalty and honour that leads to doom; wrong dealing in high places; the corruptness of authority. it is probably one of his best and deserves more attantion than it receives.
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is an uncompromising ballsy rollercoaster ride of a movie. A real heavyweight the likes of which they don't really make anymore. This was a great story on paper and Lumet's directoral style animates it with gusto, as do fierce performances from Nolte and Assante. Everybody should see this film.
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