About Last Night Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

About Last Night Blu-ray Movie Review

About That Blu-ray...

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 20, 2014

While About Last Night doesn't exactly flood the screen with novelty -- it's little more than a contemporary take on the 1986 film of the same name which was itself a take on David Mamet's (Redbelt) 1974 play Sexual Perversity in Chicago -- it should strike the fancy of hard R-rated Romantic Comedy/Drama enthusiasts. The film is never all that deep -- metaphorically, not literally -- but it provides ample relationship fireworks amongst its two diametrically opposed couples who live and make love while sorting out their deeper feelings for life and for one another, often in the context of one another's own advice, lifestyles, and bedroom antics. It does what it does rather well, all things considered, but the absence of anything that might be remotely considered "groundbreaking" ultimately leaves the movie feeling like wasted potential and something of a letdown, particularly when considering the high quality of all four lead performances.

This scene would look good on the Blu-ray box cover...

Best friends and food service industry employees Bernie (Kevin Hart) and Danny (Michael Ealy) share everything, including the nitty-gritty details of their sex lives. Danny is somewhat shy and reserved and hasn't really connected with anyone, nor wanted to since his break-up with Alison (Paula Patton). On the flip side, Bernie is something of a lady's man and magnet. His bubbly, outgoing, boisterous personality lands him the finest women in town. His latest conquest is the perfectly proportioned Joan (Regina Hall) who, like Bernie, isn't shy in the bedroom. Her roommate Debbie (Joy Bryant), however, is, making her a perfect match for the somewhat passive Danny. The couples form bonds that sometimes strain their friendships but strengthen their emotional and sexual closeness. As time passes and the relationships further develop, the couples struggle to remain together through the tough times but find plenty of physical pleasure and emotional satisfaction at their peaks. Meanwhile, Danny attempts to save a struggling bar operated by his close friend Casey (Christopher McDonald).

About Last Night is built on the back of its roller coaster-like dramatic ebbs and flows. High points include for Bernie and Angela wild sexual escapades and raunchy humor, and for Danny and Debbie a burgeoning romance brewing below their occasionally uneven but far more grounded exteriors. Doubts, fears, slowing down, and even breaking up are inevitable; after all, in a movie like this, the crash must be as hard as the fun is easy, and the deeper the pit the more rewarding the return to the top. Yet that's all the movie really does. It builds its characters well but pushes them through predictable arcs that don't leave the movie feeling empty, just routine. The film rolls along with a terribly predictable cadence, saved, really, only by the rather stellar performances and fundamentally well-written characters who leave the audience caring enough for their well-being and happiness together, even if they're really only put to the test by manufactured drama and transparent challenges.

Indeed, the film is elevated several notches by its terrific foursome of lead actors. The script's fast, frequently witty, and fully believable dialogue is delivered with effortless quickness and authenticity, whether frivolous bedroom antics or deeper emotional currents, whether colorfully coarse language or sweet pillow talk. The believability with which Hart, Ealy, Hall, and Bryant inhabit their characters helps to circumvent many of the script's pitfalls -- one of dramatic and relationship cliché -- that in less-capable hands would have most certainly and irrevocably killed the film. They keep the audience not only interested, but concerned, and not only concerned, but involved. Though clearly differentiated in tone and approach to life and love, all four characters speak to the audience in their own way but at the same time in a relatable way, defining their characters inside and out with the sort of resourcefulness and approachability that make this potentially lesser movie much more enjoyable than it frequently ought to be.

About Last Night Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

About Last Night makes its way to Blu-ray with the expectedly strong 1080p Sony transfer. The HD video source material, which favors a slightly darker tone, offers crisp, natural details, strong image clarity, and accurate colors throughout. Facial features and clothing textures are polished and accurate. Background accents in apartments, bars, city exteriors, Dodgers Stadium, and offices offer clean lines and well-defined object detail. Colors are impressive, again slightly toned down and warm but well balanced and pleasing across the board, whether liquor bottle labels in bar backgrounds, showy attire, or green grass at the ballpark. Black levels are solid, showing deep, inky accuracy in nighttime exteriors and darker interiors alike. Flesh tones appear true across the board. The image suffers from no immediately evident technical flubs. All in all, this is yet another top-rate transfer from Sony.

About Last Night Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

About Last Night's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack handles the film's requirements with impressive ease and accuracy. The film opens inside a club, blaring quality, deep beats with terrific bass and space. They're ever-so-slightly muddled but prove most impressive, then, considering the authentic location delivery, effectively transforming the home theater into the in-film club. Music throughout enjoys excellent clarity and room-filling presence. Minor atmospheric effects are nicely implemented throughout, whether light background ambience in a bar, the din out on city streets, or the sounds of baseball at a Dodgers game. Dialogue is even and accurate, flowing continuously from the center and supported by an impressive light echoing sensation heard during a swimming pool dialogue exchange in chapter four. This is a quality listen from beginning to end.

About Last Night Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

About Last Night contains a smattering of short supplements.

• An Un-Romantic Comedy (HD, 14:38): A look at updating the story for modern audiences, differences from the original film, character attributes and relationships, the picture's steamy sex scenes, and casting and performances.
• About Last Night Advice (HD, 3:53): The cast shares its thoughts on how to build positive real-life relationships.
• I Love You? (HD, 5:39): Cast and crew generate a discussion of the "power struggle" in a relationship, centered on when to say "I love you" and who should say it first.
• Word on the Street (HD, 9:04): People share their "do's and don'ts" rules of dating.
• Previews (1080p): The Amazing Spider-Man 2, That Awkward Moment, Pompeii, The Monuments Men, and Gambit.
• UV Digital Copy.

About Last Night Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

About Last Night would have almost assuredly fallen flat with a lesser cast. On paper, it's a film with little going for it, simply rehashing genre cliché and riding a well-worn emotional roller coaster, albeit with two polar opposite couples who bring their own style and baggage to the experience. The fantastic lead foursome helps carry the material much higher than it ought to go, building believable and even likable characters within the confines of the unimaginative story and the narrative doldrums that result. Sony's Blu-ray release of About Last Night features tip-top video, fine lossless audio, and a few supplements. Definitely worth a rental for the curious, and fans can purchase with confidence considering the impressive technical presentation.