Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Smooth-talking playboy Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is on the fast track to the top of the pharmaceutical-sales industry promoting a new miracle drug called Viagra. But when he meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway) during one of his sales calls, he falls madly in love with her and is forced to choose between his career and the girl who captured his heart.

The trailers made this look like your typical romantic comedy, but it’s anything but. While it has its funny moments, it takes a very serious tone when tackling the subject of Parkinson’s disease and its effects on relationships. Hathaway and Gyllenhaal display great onscreen chemistry, but the supporting cast can be distracting, especially Gyllenhaal’s onscreen brother (Josh Gad), who’s quite annoying with his sophomoric behavior. If you find Hathaway attractive (I certainly do), then you’ll love the multiple sex scenes, as she shows a lot of skin (and looks marvelous)!

Video Highlights

• AVC/1080p encode on a BD-50 disc
• Adequate detail
• Vibrant color palette
• Deep blacks

Audio Highlights

• DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack
• Front-heavy track
• Ample score bleed to the surround speakers
• Intelligible dialog

Fox delivers an above-average 1080p presentation with adequate detail and vivid colors. The pedestrian audio track fits the genre with some good music and intelligible dialog.

Bonus Materials

• An Actor’s Discussion: The Relationship Between Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway
• Deleted Scenes
• Beautifully Complex: Anne Hathaway Describes “Maggie”
• reformed Womanizer: Jake Gyllenhaal is “Jamie”
• Selling Love & Other Drugs
• Digital Copy

The serious tone of this movie wasn’t what I expected, but it’s the best part of the experience. Sadly, the sophomoric humor is more of a distraction and detracts from what could have been a very good comedy/drama. If you’re a fan of Hathaway’s, you owe it to yourself to see this for one reason—to see her baring it all in 1080p! Give it a rent.

Release Date: March 1, 2011
Studio: Fox

Movie: 5/10
Picture: 8/10
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