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Opportunity Knocks Blu-ray Review

Opportunity Knocks Blu-ray Review

I loved the concept of Opportunity Knocks but was a bit hesitant to ask for a review copy based on the poor reception it received from critics (though it had a very small sample size). The film’s IMDB ratings are a bit better with the movie averaging a decent 6.0. I decided that the film was worth a shot. While I of course was holding out hope that Opportunity Knocks would be a surprise hidden gem, I was mostly expecting it to just be an average to slightly above average comedy. My suspicions were correct as that’s pretty much exactly what Opportunity Knocks is. The concept is good and there’s enough comedy to make it worth watching, but there really isn’t anything about the film that makes it stand out among the thousands of comedy films that have been produced. It’s fine and completely watchable, just don’t expect anything amazing.

For a comedy, Opportunity Knocks actually has a pretty interesting and unique premise. The film stars Dana Carvey as Eddie Farrell, a con artist who happens to stumble into the perfect crime. After he and his accomplice become wanted men when they steal a gangster’s car and abandon it on the street when they find out who it belongs to (unfortunately for them, it also happened to have $60,000 in the trunk), the two retreat to a ritzy house they broke into the night before. Luckily for them, the owner is out of the country for a few months and the owner’s friend who was going to house-sit while he was gone wasn’t able to make it. Eddie’s luck gets even better when he is visited by the home owner’s parents Mona and Milt Malkin who believe him to be Jonathan Albertson, the man who was going to house-sit who also happens to be a high-flying businessman. Milt is also a wealthy businessman himself and after Eddie (as “Jonathan”) impresses him, he even gets a job from him. In order to get access to Milt’s money, Eddie decides to run a love con on his daughter Annie but is surprised when he actually starts falling for her. Will Eddie continue the con or will love lead him out of a life of crime?

Unfortunately, there really isn’t a lot to write about Opportunity Knocks in terms of pros and cons. The film is about as average as it gets. The story is interesting and pretty unique for a comedy film but it ultimately doesn’t really go anywhere new with the concept. The acting is decent but unspectacular (they do their best with what I would call a below average script). The comedy is very hit or miss. There are some genuinely funny quotes and moments (like the country club scene and the entire bathroom brainstorming session) but then there are long comedy droughts and even some almost offensively bad humor like Carvey’s racist Indian accent. There’s a few good jokes, a handful of terrible or corny ones, and a whole lot of ones that are decent but only worthy of a small chuckle. There’s so little that impressed or disappointed me about this film that I was only able to muster this one lone paragraph about the movie’s quality. That’s how average and unremarkable the film is.

As a lesser known comedy from 1990, it shouldn’t be too surprising that this is the first time Opportunity Knocks has been made available on Blu-ray. The film wasn’t even available on DVD until 2010. Some would argue whether a film like this even needs a Blu-ray release but I personally love to see even the least memorable movies available on the format. Yes, a comedy like this isn’t going to benefit that heavily from an upgrade to high-definition but it’s always good to see films be made available in the best possible picture quality. Opportunity Knocks looks decent on Blu-ray for a film from 1990 but there aren’t a lot of scenes that really require the upgrade. There are some location shoots that benefit more from the upgraded video quality (like the film’s trip to Wrigley Field) but most of the movie takes place inside a house and a business office. It’s not like those scenes are really going to “pop” with the upgrade to Blu-ray. There’s probably enough of an upgrade here for fans of the film to pick it up on Blu-ray though. Considering the low price point (less than $10 on Amazon), those who don’t own the film already but want to watch it should have an easy decision to make. Might as well get it on Blu-ray.

Mill Creek Entertainment releases often don’t include any bonus features. Their release of Opportunity Knocks actually includes a few extras with a boatload of deleted scenes and the film’s trailer. These were both included on the DVD so nothing here is new, but even just porting the old extras is something. It’s not just a few deleted scenes either, there is 27 minutes worth of them (some are just alternate versions though). Unsurprisingly, the video quality on these isn’t very good (since they weren’t used in the film, the takes haven’t been cleaned up at all) but adding almost a third of another film to the table is an impressive addition. Many of these aren’t super funny but they do fill in things like how Eddie learns about Jonathan’s life (in order to impersonate him). There are definitely some that are worth watching for comedy purposes but they mostly just improve the story.

Similar to Mill Creek’s recent ’80s VHS artwork Blu-rays, Opportunity Knocks is part of a wave of ’90s releases in the same vein. The other titles in this wave are Excess Baggage, Double Team, and Jury Duty (all of which are releasing on June 4, 2019 alongside this film). In addition to this film, Excess Baggage and Jury Duty are also making their debut on Blu-ray. Double Team has been previously released on the format, though as part of a multi-movie pack release (Mill Creek’s Action 9 Movie Collection). Like the similar ’80s releases, these films have slipcovers that convey a sort of rental store vibe. Unfortunately they all look pretty similar to each other and don’t really have the unique touches some of the ’80s releases had. While I don’t know about the other releases, Opportunity Knocks does have different art on the actual Blu-ray case.

Overall, in the realm of comedy films you can’t get much more average than Opportunity Knocks. It isn’t a horrendous comedy that is completely unwatchable like the critics would have you believe. It also isn’t a must-watch comedy that will have you quoting the film’s lines or laughing out loud. What it is is a competent comedy with an interesting concept that will get a few laughs out of you. Whether or not that is enough for a recommendation depends on how much you like Dana Carvey’s comedies. If you enjoy his films, you’ll probably get enough laughs out of Opportunity Knocks to warrant a purchase. Otherwise, unless you are running out of interesting comedies to watch, it really isn’t something you have to watch. For those who have already seen the film and are just wondering whether or not they should upgrade to high-definition, I would say maybe. The video quality is certainly upgraded in this release but not enough to make it an obvious upgrade candidate. I would say if you are either a big fan of the film or a stickler for video quality, it is worth an upgrade. Otherwise, you can probably stick with your DVD release.

Opportunity Knocks (and the rest of Mill Creek’s ’90s VHS Artwork releases) will be released on Blu-ray on June 4, 2019.

Buy Opportunity Knocks on Amazon: Blu-ray

We would like to thank Mill Creek Entertainment for the review copy of  Opportunity Knocks used for this review. Other than receiving the review copy we at Geeky Hobbies received no other compensation. Receiving the review copy had no impact on the content of this review or the final score.