Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: Universal Pictures
Blu-ray: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Disc:
Region: All
Runtime: 132 min
Chapters: 20
Size: 50 GB
Case: Standard Amaray Blu-ray case
Release date: September 30, 2008
Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Resolution: 1080p
Video codec: AVC
Audio:
English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio; Spanish & French DTS
5.1
Subtitles:
English, English SDH, Spanish & French
Extras:
• Commentary by Director/Co- Writer Judd Apatow,
Actor/Co-Writer Steve Carrell and Cast.
• Deleted Scenes with optional commentary (27:31)
• Line-O-Rama (6:20)
• Date-A-Palooza: Deleted dating material (9:18)
• 1970s Sex Education Film (5:26)
• My Dinner with Stormy: (2:08)
• Judd Apatow: Video Diaries of 10 days of shooting.
(20:46)
• Raw Footage: uncut & unedited (19:23)
• Reel Comedy Round Table (21:08)
• Cinemax Final Cut: an uncensored interview with the
cast. (12:44)
• Auditions (7:33)
• Gag Reel
• Waxing Documentary of Steve's chest.
• More . . .
Overview of the
Ultimate
Unrated Comedy Collection:
On September 30, Universal will release their "Ultimate
Unrated Comedy Collection" (where "ultimate" modifies
unrated, not comedy), comprising the raunchy work of
Judd Aptow and friends:
The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005),
Knocked Up (2007), and
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008).
We might as well get this "Unrated" stuff out of the way
first. You probably already know this but just to make
sure: "Unrated" means just that: the film in this form
has never been rated. What it does not mean is that you
will see more of the luscious Miss Heigl in compromising
or lascivious positions – with or without clothes, or
anyone else of significance – unless Jason Segel's thing
happens to be your thing. After all, these movies were
only R-rated to start with - "for pervasive sexual
content" among other things. (By the way, have you
wondered what kind of nudity isn't graphic or how the
unmodified term "language" is grounds for a rating of
any kind?) With an eye to home video, more "R" material
was shot, but you are likely to be disappointed if you
expect titillation to be consummated.
The by now familiar faces of actors Paul Rudd, Seth
Rogen and Jason Segel show up in two or more of these
features as misguided nerds, dopeheads, narcissists and
generally all-around losers. There are varying degrees
of raunchiness and nudity – but the surprise of it all
is that none of it is mean-spirited, and both sexes
receive their share of demeaning stereotypes. The men
are made much more the butt of raunchy humor of than the
women, while the women seem to exist for the men to
examine their existential problems. I think this is
supposed to be funny, but for me – perhaps it's just my
age – I simply find it trendy. I think my general
objection is that once I am exposed to relatively
uncharted images like a man pissing in his face because
he can't get his erection to behave, I find no charm in
revisiting them.
In the interests of full disclosure I must admit my
default lack of interest in movies of this sort, so I
was surprised that I not only was able to sit though
them, but also found it easy to discriminate one from
the other. I even found myself smiling now and then
sometimes in recognition, sometimes at the
outrageousness of it all, particularly evident in
Knocked Up. But just because there exists in these
movies a patina of sensitivity to real adult situations,
doesn't in my view make them good movies.
Forgetting
Sarah Marshall is, I felt, the least guilty in this
regard, partly because its writer and star, Jason Segel,
doesn't attempt to examine the maturing process, or the
lack of it, in such sweeping terms as Judd Aptow does in
the other two movies.
What makes me want to watch even the loudest or silliest
comedy over and over (think: Fawlty Towers, here) is
that the audience learns the lesson, even if the
character doesn't. Or, as in Valley Girl or The Sure
Thing, the journey to change or acceptance is unclear.
This was one of the things I admired about Mad About
You: resolution came not from insight, but perspective.
The same could be said for
Some Like it Hot. In raunchy
comedy, even these relatively good ones, I don't believe
enough in the characters' journey. Perhaps it's because
there are so many distractions – the very things that
make them special, I imagine – that get in the way of my
caring as much about them as I'd like.
The Movie: 6
Points for a catchy title that delivers on its promise.
The title character is one Andy Stitzer, who works in
the service department at the local hi-fi/home theatre
store. Clearly it's not just women he's uncomfortable
with, making the smallest talk possible with his
coworkers – all self-described studs, whether or not
they really are, is awkward for him, and for them. Andy
lives alone (no, not with his mother) surrounded by
collectable action figures, about which he knows
everything. He is handy with tools and paint, applying
his talent in the detail work needed for the finishing
touches. He even plays the tuba.
But Andy's life is designed to keep him at a safe
distance from women. He won't even help a female
customer if he can avoid it, unless on the safe side of
his service door. One evening his "buddies" at work
(Romany Malco, Paul Rudd, and Seth Rogen) find
themselves in need of another hand at poker and invite
the reclusive Andy, who turns out to be a whiz at the
game, but not so good at regaling the others with his
sexual exploits. Once the cat is out of the bag, his
friends set out to right this wrong with their ideas
about how the game is played. Watching Carell try his
best to appease his friends, even as he is shocked and
repelled by the thought is most of the substance of the
movie. When he meets Trish (Catherine Keener), an actual
adult and a non-floosie if ever there was one, Andy
begins to feel that the stakes are higher than any mere
game. His friends, however, see things quite
differently.
Andy's buddies, who are pretty good at self-deceit to
begin with, give him a piece of good advice: better you
save your efforts at a real relationship until you've
practiced with ones that you can expect will go nowhere.
In Andy's case, he should be learning to be less
anxious, less fearful of being with women. The tactics
these guys propose are the stuff of parody and Carell
brings each of them off brilliantly. The truth is,
however, they do not translate into "fundamentals of
relationship" at any level. So Andy's buddies don't
really know anything about relationships – a fact which
is demonstrated in their own personal lives. It's a
common failing of men that we want other men to fail in
the same way we do. Probably related to what rams do to
sort out who will get the girl.
I know I am out of the mainstream twice over in my
general lack of regard for Steve Carell, whose
characters, so far, never impress me as real persons. Of
course, in a comedy, we expect a certain amount of
caricature. But then how do we explain Catherine Keener,
whose character, Trish, is a real person in this movie
(though her daughter isn't)? My feeling is that the
movie boils down to a series of vaudeville sketches,
except that some of them involve a real person. Doesn't
quite work for me.
Image:
6/8
The first number indicates a relative level of
excellence compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a
ten-point scale. The second number places this image
along the full range of DVD and Blu-ray discs.
To my eye the image appears oversharpened with maybe
some DNR as well. Contrast and color is good, tending
toward the blue, which is probably intentional
(blue=cool), but detail stands out instead of merely
being clear.
Audio & Music:
7/7
Given the nature of the movie, the audio mix is largely
front-loaded. The surrounds are engaged for the music
and club scenes. The dialogue is clear enough, nicely
balanced and properly located.
Operations:
9
The menu is laid out like other Universal Blu-rays I
have seen so far – and they are all very cleverly laid
out, indeed. I like the arrows that tell you which way
to direct you remote, and the bonus feature instructions
are detailed and intuitive. High marks here. The
chapter menu includes buttons for U-Control in case you
want to approach those functions from that point. And
there is also a way to adjust the PIP volume in the
set-up menu.
Extras:
7
As you can see from the listing, this Blu-ray edition
has an astonishing number of bonus features of various
lengths, all in standard definition. Much of what is
available in the extras are incorporated into the
U-Control feature, though in smaller PIP style. Most of
the extras are pretty self-explanatory and of variable
interest. My favorite was the 1970's sex-education film,
which harkened back to Reefer Madness in its naiveté.
The main audio commentary is a laugh track of its own.
Worth a listen, even without the film running. Also,
with a 2.0 player, you will be able to download stuff
via BD-Live if that's your thing.
Bottom line:
7
This popular Apatow comedy is a great vehicle for Steve
Carell, who doubles as co-writer. The image is halfway
decent, if not unnaturally sharpened. Generous,
entertaining extra features.
Leonard Norwitz
September 28, 2008
