Based on the book by Diana B. Henriques, The Wizard Of Lies dissects the events that led to Bernie Madoff’s (De Niro), the Wall Street financier, stunning downfall in December 2008 for defrauding investors of over $65 billion in the most infamous Ponzi scheme in U.S. history. The drama vividly recounts Madoff’s audacious deceptions that culminated in his vilification while catapulting his wife Ruth (Pfeiffer) and two sons into a harsh and unrelenting spotlight, with tragic consequences. (Gary Reber)
Special features include include cast interviews (HD 07:31) and an UltraViolet digital copy.
The 1.78:1 1080p AVC picture, reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display, upconverted to 2160p with greater resolution and luminance, was photographed digitally with the Arri Alexa camera system. The color palette is naturally hued but with a subdued veneer. Fleshtones are naturally rendered throughout. Contrast is well balanced during most scenes, but less so in the flashbacks. A black-and-white segment is quite powerful. Resolution is revealing of fine detail generally throughout, though, at times the imagery is a bit soft. Overall, the imagery is a bit inconsistent but satisfying. (Gary Reber)
The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is dialogue focused, but surrounds are active, at times, re-creating subtle ambience and the music score. As well, deep bass is infrequent in the .1 LFE channel, though, otherwise the soundtrack is anchored in natural bass. One segment of gunfire ignites the .1 LFE with powerful deep bass. In another segment a jazz combo drummer ignites a strong bass response. Dialogue is consistently intelligible with decent spatial integration. Fidelity is excellent throughout. In essence, this is a basic soundtrack experience that satisfies the telling of the story. (Gary Reber)