Edison DVD Review

The city of Edison is riddled with corruption. As rookie journalist Joshua Pollock (Timberlake) covers a court case, he overhears an exchange between the convicted perpetrator and officer Raf Reed (Cool J) that sparks an interest in the F.R.A.T. team, the police taskforce established to crack down on crime in the city. As he investigates further however he discovers that there is more to this than he ever thought and his life is now in danger.

Many a musician has tried their hand at acting, with very mixed results but can Justin Timberlake make an impact on the big screen?

Music idols or the latest pop favourites becoming movie stars has become the norm in Hollywood ever since film began. From Elvis Presley to the Spice Girls, the movie industry has never been afraid of trying to cash in on a performer’s popularity but it has always provided very mixed results. While most of the film’s they star in are usually to do with music or have them singing something, there are artists that want to be taken seriously as actors. While rappers such as Ice Cube, Ice-T and LL Cool J have made the job to alternative non-music roles with some skill, others have struggled. Now it is former N-Sync star Justin Timberlake’s turn to try and be taken seriously as an actor.

‘Edison’ is a tale of corruption at the highest level, set in the same named city that is riddled with crime. While writer/director David J. Burke’s script might not be the most original you have every seen but there is enough here for the impressive ensemble cast to work with. A rookie reporter stumbling upon corruption within Edison police force special unit F.R.A.T. leading to him life been in danger, is nothing we haven’t seen before but the plot is well enough executed and the performances bring out a little more in the story than they should have.

When you have actors of the calibre of Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey starring in a movie you are bound to take notice and this makes ‘Edison’ instantly more watchable. Morgan Freeman’s newspaper editor Moses Ashford, is a man who was looking for a quiet retirement running a small paper but gets dragged back into an investigation that could threaten his life. Kevin Spacey has a much smaller role as local police official Levon Wallace, who becomes involved in the F.R.A.T. investigation. It is the younger actors that get most of the limelight however with, LL Cool J and Justin Timberlake leading the line. As rookie reporter Josh Pollack and F.R.A.T. officer with a conscience Rafe Deed, the two music artists turned actors do a good job with their characters but not enough to set Hollywood alight. There support is good however with standout performances from Dylan McDermott as the livewire cop on the edge Sgt. Frances Lazerov, John Heard as F.R.A.T. commanding officer Capt. Brian Tillman and Cary Elwes as D.A. Jack Reigert.

‘Edison’ might not offer anything new to the crime thrilling police drama but the impressive ensemble cast makes up for the script shortcomings. With plenty of twists and turns that are not that predictable, there is much to enjoy here but it just won’t stay with you very long.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1, the presentation is good.

BONUS FEATURES

Absolute Power: Behind the Scenes of Edison (12.18 mins) Writer/Director David J. Burke, producers Randall Emmett and John Thompson and stars Morgan Freeman, Justin Timberlake, LL Cool J, John Heard, Cary Elwes, Dylan McDermott and Piper Perabo take you behind the scenes of ‘Edison’. The group talk about the story and bringing the characters to life, highlighting what it was like to work with writer/director David J. Burke. They also talk about how the storyline reflects some of the issues people have with authority and politicians. This is your typical behind the scenes featurette that only offers a slight insight into the production of the film.

Theatrical Trailer (2.08 mins) Watch the trailer that previewed the film in theatres.

Trailers Watch previews of ‘The Wicker Man’ and ‘11:14’

OVERALL

With only a short featurette and a trailer, the bonus features for ‘Edison’ are very lacking. This will be a disappointment to the fans of the movie however, as they would have wanted to have seen more cast interviews.