Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Lisa (Reese Witherspoon) is in the emotional dumpster after getting cut from the Olympic softball team and shacks up with a major league baseball player and ladies' man, Matty (Owen Wilson) while she tries to put her life back together. Shortly after their relationship takes root she meets George (Paul Rudd), a business man facing his own personal issues with his father and a pending indictment by the Justice Department, and the two become good friends but could there be more to the relationship than she realizes?

Writer-director James L. Brooks' has quite a resume and I guess every now and then even the best of writers will release a stinker, and this certainly qualifies. The love triangle storyline had possibilities between Rudd, Wilson, and Witherspoon, but there are too many loose ends with Rudd's neurotic secretary (Katheryn Hahn) and his father (Jack Nicholson) that could have been excluded to quicken the pace and make the film more interesting.

Video Highlights

• AVC/1080p encode on a BD-50 disc
• Warm color palette
• Reference-level color saturation, especially red
• Exquisite detail
• Inky blacks

Audio Highlights

• DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack
• Pedestrian sound design
• Intelligible dialog
• Occasion atmospheric ambience
• Front-heavy presentation

The video encode is very good with excellent color saturation, inky blacks, and plenty of detail. The soundtrack is burdened with pedestrian sound design but serves its purpose.

Bonus Materials

• Audio Commentary with the directory and cinematographer
• Scene specific commentary with the director and Owen Wilson
• Deleted Scenes
• Bloopers
• Three featurettes
• BD-Live

The potential was certainly here with an all-star cast and noteworthy writer/director, unfortunately this one misses the mark. Laughs are hard to come by, and at 121 minutes it's just too damn long. If you're a fan of the stars it may be worth a rental, but even that may be a stretch.

Release Date: March 22, 2011
Studio: Sony

Movie: 4/10
Picture: 9/10
Sound: 8/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS40 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Integra DTC-80.2 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PVA-PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics