7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A mommy blogger in a small town discovers her best friend has vanished.
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Eric Johnson (I), Jean Smart, Sarah Baker (IV)Thriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.00:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.00:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Back in the days of print media, those of us who worked as reviewers at newspapers and/or magazines knew we were probably dealing with a less than completely successful film release if we weren’t granted an opportunity to see the film before its general public exhibition. The thinking by the studios seemed to be, “The less said, the better”, in the case of some “questionable” properties. One might think that that same kind of “caution” wouldn’t necessarily extend to the home media market, since, after all, for all but direct to video releases, movies and television outings being put out on various home media platforms including 1080p Blu-ray and 4K UHD discs have more than likely already been reviewed and, perhaps more importantly, have certainly either been given approval or dismissal by paying audiences. And yet Lionsgate kind of strangely didn’t provide a review copy of A Simple Favor (to me, anyway), this despite the fact that the film’s theatrical exhibition was largely met with positive reviews and (again, perhaps more importantly) at least decent box office returns. However, after having now watched the film and come away at least a little surprised by the tone of it all, I have to say Lionsgate’s marketing “strategy” for this film as a whole seems almost willfully boneheaded. The promotional trailers I saw on broadcast and cable television trying to drum up business for the film’s theatrical exhibition made A Simple Favor seem like "Gone Girl redux". While there is a missing persons element to A Simple Favor, the trailers I personally saw pretty much completely missed the fact that this outing is considerably cheekier than the Gillian Flynn adaptation, with a dark but potent sense of humor, as perhaps might have been surmised by anyone paying attention to the fact that Paul Feig co-produced and directed it.
A Simple Favor is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. We home theater buffs evidently have a mystery of our own on our hands, as some members are reporting what they say is a narrower aspect ratio on their 1080p Blu-rays, but as can clearly be seen in the screenshots accompanying this review, the 1080p Blu-ray I received is in 2.00:1. I'm actually wondering now if the reason Lionsgate didn't provide review copies is that they discovered a technical issue with their first run, but that's pure and rampant speculation on my part. Aside from this kind of odd discrepancy (one that I'll follow up on and report back about here if I'm able to discover anything), this is a really nice looking transfer culled from digital capture by a camera I don't think I've ever dealt with previously in other reviews of mine, the Panavision Millennium DXL, which evidently has a RED sensor and (according to online data as well as the specs on the IMDb) has a source capture resolution of 8K, which the IMDb is reporting was finished at a 2K DI. This is an often sumptuously colorful outing, with nice detail levels across the board. The film's production design is sleek and modern, and both Emily's house and her outfits offer consistent opportunities for displays of both an intensely suffused palette and lots of textural information on things like fabrics or the many canvases that are hung on the walls. Fine detail is typically excellent as well. There are just a couple of niggling qualms some may have, including a pretty noticeable lack of shadow detail in a couple of late scenes where Stephanie is exploring dank and dark environments. There were also a couple of very brief flirtations with banding that I noticed when lighting intensities suddenly changed.
There are a ton of really fun (often French) source cues utilized throughout A Simple Favor, something that opens up the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 track quite winningly. The film opens with an enjoyably raucous version of the old chestnut "Music to Watch Girls By", albeit in French, and subsequent cues are similarly energetic, with a nice spread through the surround channels. Several non-musical sequences also offer good surround activity, including some noisy schoolroom moments, a playdate at the park, and, later (if somewhat briefly), what seems to be turning into a car chase between Stephanie and a supposed assailant. Ambient environmental sounds regularly dot the surrounds in the outdoor material, and throughout the entire presentation dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly and with excellent prioritization.
Despite its sometimes head scratching omissions and/or lack of logic, I actually enjoyed huge swaths of A Simple Favor. The film made me laugh out loud several times, and the interplay between Kendrick and Lively was consistently engaging. The film may offer just a few too many ostensible twists for its own good, but it seems to have a sense of humor about itself, something that is often sadly missing in contemporary comedies. Fans of the cast will most likely be willing to overlook any perceived deficits. Technical merits are first rate, the supplemental package outstanding, and A Simple Favor comes Recommended.
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