Frank O’Brien (Denis Leary) and his longtime girlfriend Roz (Sandra Bullock) have just stolen a $4M painting, and are on the run from the police. The job was supposed to take place on the same day they were to meet the buyer, but Frank figured they could make a long weekend out of it and did the robbery a few days early. Now the couple must find a place to hide out until the handoff. They aren’t really the smartest criminals, but they manage to evade the cops long enough to hop a ferry to Amahonsset, Rhode Island. When they arrive on the island, Roz discovers an unoccupied beachside mansion, where they can stay for the weekend. However, blending in is not their strong suit, and their arrival doesn’t go unnoticed. They soon meet single neighbor Evan Marsh (Stephen Dillane), who uses his charms to flirt with Roz. Frank, on the other hand, becomes the constant target of neighborhood teenager Todd (Jonathan Tucker) after he takes the $50 the homeowners left for Todd to look after their house.
This art heist was supposed to be Frank’s final job before he went legit. But there always seems to be “one more job” waiting around the corner, and this causes a rift between Frank and Roz. The couple has been together off-and-on for the past 7 years, and Roz has finally had enough. She wants a house, kids, and to travel to Europe, but Frank is stuck in his ways, and with him it’s always the same thing. So when cultured neighbor Evan shows her some attention, she decides to explore it. This makes Frank jealous, and he realizes he needs to change some things if he’s going to win back Roz.
Meanwhile, FBI agent Frank O’Malley (Yaphet Kotto) has spent the past two years obsessing over prolific art thief Phil the Shill, whom he claims faked his own death and is still very much alive. O’Malley believes Phil has something to do with the stolen Matisse painting, and that Frank could lead him to this white whale that has evaded him for so long. Frank is far from a master criminal, and left all kinds of incriminating evidence behind. When O’Malley starts looking into Frank and his known associates—fence Beano Callahan (Wayne Robson), and his bumbling sidekicks Kelly (Lenny Clarke), Quinn (Michael Badalucco) and Fitzie (Mike Starr)—he can’t believe how incompetent these criminals are. Tailing this crew in hopes of finding Frank, the painting, and the buyer may be a lot easier than he expected!
Two if by Sea has always been a favorite of mine. I’m not sure why it generally gets negative reviews. Leary and Bullock have wonderful chemistry as this bickering couple who deep down really love and care about one another. While some of the humor may be a bit dated and considered somewhat offensive today—there are several jokes about someone dressing “gay” or “like a fag”, and someone being referred to as “retarded”. However, a lot of the humor still holds up. Frank and Roz both have exaggerated accents—he’s from Boston and she’s from New York—and there is a lot of humor to be mined here, such as Frank questioning why Evan uses big words like “propitious” when he could have just said “wicked good”?! Leary does a lot of his usual routine, always cursing and complaining about something, but is in top form and garners lots of laughs. There is also this really fun relationship that forms between Frank and latchkey kid Todd. Bullock is so delightful in this film, even with the ridiculous accent. Roz kind of reminds me of Marissa Tomei character in My Cousin Vinny. Her biological clock is ticking and she wants more out of life, and needs her boyfriend to step up, grow up, and deliver. The film also includes a lot of over-the-top slapstick humor with Frank’s cousin Beano and his bumbling crew as they head off on a road trip to meet up with Frank and get the painting. This crew is hilarious and includes one of Leary’s usual partners in crime, Lenny Clarke.
Two if by Sea arrives on Blu-ray for the first time thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment. The presentation is quite solid, with a clean picture featuring nice colors, an excellent level of detail, and a pleasant amount of film grain. The natural beauty of the locations really shines through. The 5.1 audio track doesn’t noticeably utilize the surround channel all that much, but the dialogue remains clear and easy to understand throughout, and the score sounds great. The only bonus material included on the disc is the film’s trailer. Warner Bros’ original DVD release also contained a 7-minute behind-the-scenes featurette which was unfortunately not ported over to this Blu-ray. The main menu just offers the option to enable subtitles, watch the film, or watch the trailer. The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase, without a slipcover or a digital copy.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:35:54)
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Subtitles: English SDH
Extras:
- Trailer (1:59)
Final Thoughts:
Two if by Sea is a funny and charming romantic comedy, with some delightful performances by Bullock and Leary, who have such great chemistry and play off one another really well. Most of the humor holds up pretty well 25 years later, with Leary delivering his usual curse-filled rants, along with some fun fish out of water humor as this couple finds themselves out of place with the classy New England elite, and some hilarious physical comedy with the bumbling crooks being chased by the Feds. Mill Creek’s Blu-ray looks and sounds great, which is sure to please fans. However, it unfortunately loses the minimal bonus material that had been included on the previous DVD release. That said, this release is worth picking up for any fan of the film or of the main actors.
