A Little Help Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

A Little Help Blu-ray Movie Review

Gets by, but stops short of getting high.

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater November 21, 2011

When a much-beloved TV actor known for a single defining role ventures into film, there’s always that challenge of having to break free from typecasting and public perception. Her Office co-stars Steve Carrell, John Krasinski, and Rainn Wilson have all faced this in their burgeoning movie careers—with varying success—and now it’s Jenna Fischer’s turn, with her first leading film role, in the low-key indie dramedy A Little Help. As Pam, The Office’s shy, underappreciated receptionist-turned-saleswoman, Fischer has earned full-on American Sweetheart status, and her character’s will-they-or-won’t-they-get-together relationship with the boyish Jim Halpert provided the sit-com with a heart and a dramatic compass. (Since the two got married, the show has gotten increasingly lost in purposelessness.) It’s a rather simple part—she’s the grown-up girl-next- door, attractive but obtainable. Here, she’s not required to stray too far from that same stereotype, but she does add some detail and darker nuance to it. You might say that her character in A Little Help is what Pam would be if her marriage to Jim ended messily and she became a Budweiser- swilling alcoholic and harried single mom.

That’s essentially what happens here. Fischer plays Laura, a dental hygienist whom we meet as she lectures a patient about the ineffectiveness of waxy floss. This casual diatribe ends in tears when Laura brings up how her husband, Bob (Chris O’Donnell), never listens to her flossing recommendations. Clearly, there’s some deeper trouble at home. And there is. Bob has been having an affair under the guise of working long hours, and when Laura calls him out at a family barbeque—and when he retorts by saying she’s been “letting herself go” by drinking and smoking—their argument ends with Bob clutching his chest on his knees in the driveway, in pain and out of breath. His doctor says it was just a panic attack, but later—in the middle of make-up sex, no less—Bob keels over dead from arrhythmia.

Laura is left with a mortgage, insufficient assets, and no real way to support their bratty tweenaged son, Dennis (Daniel Yelsky), an intolerable twerp who’s precociously cynical and prone to leaving angry rants to his mom on Instant Messenger. Her totally bonkers family is little help, though they insist on derisively telling Laura how to manage her affairs. Her cruel mother (Lesley Ann Warren) calls her a “spoiled, self-indulgent teenager,” and her dad (Rob Leibman) can’t give her much back-up since he’s hopelessly stuck in the past, reliving his glory days as a front-page sports journalist. But most despicable is Kathy (Brooke Smith), her jealous, petty, and less-pretty older sister, who domineeringly takes charge and arranges for Laura to meet with a litigation lawyer—played with sleazy swagger by Sons of Anarchy’s Kim Coates—who has big plans for a seven-figure malpractice lawsuit.

Laura doesn't want this—any of it. She just wants to move on. But it’s never that easy. Life piles one thing on top of another. The dog next door won’t stop its yapping. Her one-night-stand with a seedy software developer turns out to be a horrible idea. And Dennis is driving her insane. His latest ploy, in a bid to win friends at his new school, is to tell the other students that his dad died rescuing people from the World Trade Center on 9/11. He’s the kind of kid who makes you think seriously about never, ever having children. The only one who seems to empathize with Laura is her brother-in-law, Paul (Rob Benedict), who’s the last person you’d ever expect to be married to the straight-laced Kathy—he’s a shaggy dad who works at a radio station, supports his teenaged son’s rock back, and isn’t adverse to sneaking out to the gazebo at night to smoke a little weed. He also had thing for Laura back in high school, which explains their shy, flirty repartee.

You may think you know with certainty where this is going, but A Little Help skirts the obvious—mostly—as it deals with the stress and complications of single parenthood. There’s no happy-ever-after moment here, and few rom-com platitudes. Instead, writer/director Michael J. Weithorn—creator of the TV series King of Queens—keeps the characters awkward and restrained, holding them back from expressing the kind of gooey emotions the genre is known for. The overwhelming feeling of the film is weariness. Life is unpredictable. We miss opportunities and never get a second chance. The only hope is to trudge on and plow through. We can all relate, but I think we’d also all agree—this isn’t a very bankable sentiment. A Little Help is no piece of pop escapism, so if you’re looking to temporarily forget about life’s soul-crushing monotony and aching regrets, you’d best look elsewhere.

If, however, you’re up for some head-shaking, ain’t-life-a-bitch entertainment, A Little Help does have an unassuming allure. It’s the sort of movie you might watch to make yourself feel better about your own situation. The dramatic scope is small and the budget is low, but the film gets by on its well-written, hey, I know someone like that characters and strong performances. In particular, Jenna Fischer is perfect at playing frazzled and exasperated, and she takes obvious relish in stretching her expected onscreen persona, swearing at her insufferable kid, downing one Bud after another, and getting blazed with her brother-in-law. She’s like Pam Beesly’s trashier twin sister, and I’m okay with that.

A Little Help Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I couldn't find any concrete confirmation online, but A Little Help appears to have been shot digitally. On Blu-ray, it features a 1080p/AVC- encoded image that's acceptable but never outright impressive. The one aspect of the transfer that most dampened my enthusiasm for the picture quality was the generally weak contrast, which leaves black levels hazy and grayish and colors looking lifeless and dull. This is apparent from the very first scene, which shows Laura in the dentist's office, which features a parrot meant to "soothe" the patients. (It doesn't. It just squawks out commands to the hygienists.) The bird's red feathers should look bright and vibrant, but they don't. Throughout, the contrast curve and color grading are flat, and while it never goes to the extent that the image starts to look desaturated, it is noticeable. There are no real issues with clarity, though—detail is strong in the actors' faces, and clothing textures are usually discernable in close-ups. Compression noise is occasionally visible, but there are no DNR abuses, edge enhancement accidents, or other issues. The picture is watchable, but I'm certain the film could look better.

A Little Help Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The disc includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track befitting of a quiet, low-budget indie dramedy. That is, this is a front-heavy, dialogue- weighted mix that does what it needs to do with no real sound design flourishes. You'll hear some occasional ambience in the rear speakers—bird tweets and other outdoor noises, mostly—but this is kept low and unobtrusive. Jakob Dylan contributes a handful of new songs for the film's score, and these present the track at its most robust, with decent dynamics and a nice spread of instrumentation in the soundfield. Conversations are the focus, though, and voices are presented cleanly, with no muffling, crackles, or pops. And that's about all there is to say here. Optional English SDH subtitles are available in easy to read white lettering.

A Little Help Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interviews (1080p, 11:54): A short series of interviews with Jenna Fischer, Chris O'Donnell, Kim Coates, Brooke Smith, Rob Benedict, Ron Leibman, Daniel Yelsky, Jim Florentine, and Michael Weithorn.
• Jakob Dylan Music Video (SD, 4:21): Ah yes, ye olde movie tie-in music video.
• TV Spot (SD, 00:31)
• Trailer (1080p, 2:15)

A Little Help Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A Little Help gives Jenna Fischer a role that requires more dramatic chops than her gig on The Office, and while this isn't the kind of film I'd tell you to run out and go buy, it's worth watching if you happen to catch it on TV or can find it cheap on Blu-ray. Recommended if you're curious about the darker side of Pam Beesly.