COLUMBIA TRISTAR has released the “too full of itself for its own good” drama, “MONTANA.”  The film’s stars, Stanley Tucci, Kyra Sedgwick, and the incredible Philip Seymour Hoffman, are all excellent, but they can’t make up for a convoluted script that blatantly attempts to borrow heavily from “PULP FICTION.”  While many fillms’ narratives were influenced by that film, some of them were quite good, e.g. “THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHILE YOU’RE DEAD,” but “MONTANA” isn’t one of them!

The story involves Hoffman as an accountant for a mob boss, responsible for problems surfacing around missing cash, a hit-woman and more. None of it’s that engaging, and the appearance of John Ritter, even though he was great in “SLING BLADE,” feels contrives without reason here!

COLUMBIA TRISTAR has preserved the film’s original 1.85:1 aspect ratio.  Obviously limited by its budget, lighting is only average in some scenes.  The transfer lacks the detail of typically superior COLUMBIA TRISTAR releases.

COLUMBIA TRISTAR has presented a Dolby 2.0 Stereo mix.  There’s only limited separation for this dialogue-heavy film, but the dialogue, as unimpressive as it is, still suffers in clarity from time-to-time.

Trailers for several films, including “MONTANA,” have been included.