True Confessions

Based on the novel by the late John Gregory Dunne (whose wife, author Joan Didion, wrote about her loss in the powerful memoir The Year of Magical Thinking), Ulu Grosbard's 1981 film (scripted by Dunne and Didion) stars Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall as brothers who move in decidedly different orbits: Des (De Niro) is a Catholic monsignor, while Tom (Duvall) is a cynical homicide detective. Set in Los Angeles, circa 1948, the film brings the siblings together when Tom's investigation of a gruesome murder of a young woman dubbed the “Virgin Tramp” (but obviously modeled on the Black Dahlia case) turns up ancillary evidence leading to a mobster named Jack Amsterdam (Charles Durning), who also happens to be the go-to money man supporting Des' various Catholic building projects. Told almost entirely in flashback (the film is awkwardly bookended by a meeting between the brothers as elders), True Confessions is more successful on the page than the screen (although the script here is full of wonderful bits) in depicting the labyrinth of power in the Catholic hierarchy and the slippery ethical slope down which Des ultimately slides. In addition, while the acting is solid, tough-guy De Niro is not entirely convincing as a priest, nor is Duvall credibly Italian. Still, this intellectual anti-noir is never less than engaging, and occasionally plumbs some dark areas, as when a fellow priest (Burgess Meredith) tells Des point blank, “You like power.” Debuting on a flipper-disc DVD (full screen on one side, widescreen on the other) with an unremarkable transfer, disappointingly flat audio, and zero extras, True Confessions is still a strong optional purchase. (R. Pitman)[DVD/Blu-ray Review—Oct. 21, 2014—Kino Lorber, 108 min., R, DVD: $19.95, Blu-ray: $29.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1981's True Confessions sports a fine transfer and a DTS-HD stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray release, but no extras. Bottom line: an uneven but interesting film makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]