6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A young, narcissistic entrepreneur crashes and burns on the eve of his company's big launch. With his entire life in total disarray, he leaves Manhattan to move in with his estranged pregnant sister, brother-in-law and 3-year-old nephew in the suburbs - only to become their nanny.
Starring: Rose Byrne, Nick Kroll, Bobby Cannavale, Matthew Paddock (II), Caleb PaddockComedy | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Life doesn't always work out as planned. Things change. Sometimes they're things within one's control, sometimes they aren't. Life's one constant is change, yet it's sometimes the one thing nobody accounts for in their grand plans to find success and happiness. Occasionally, life's big upsets can lead to small miracles, like reconnecting with family and finding a truer and straighter path to happiness. Those are all the driving forces behind Director Ross Katz's (The Choice) Adult Beginners, the story of a young man whose big plans blow up in his face and who must return closer to his roots to pick up the pieces and find personal salvation and fulfillment some other way. It's a wholly unoriginal story that banks on admittedly well-drawn characters and a fair bit of now-standard quirkiness to get by. The movie isn't particularly satisfying, but it's competently assembled and put together well enough, and with just enough humor, heart, and honest drama, to scrape by as a worthwhile, but not particularly memorable, watch.
On the rebound.
Much like the movie, Adult Beginners' 1080p transfer isn't particularly noteworthy, but it's a solid enough presentation with no serious flaws. the digital source material holds up well, marred by (occasionally spiking) noise but nothing that really distracts from a watch. Colors are lively throughout. A neutral color palette is accentuated by almost constant bright lighting that really allows snappier shades of red and purple and all sorts of colorful accents around interiors and exteriors alike to shine. Details are likewise rock-solid, with clothing a standout and faces revealing stubble, pores, bumps, and makeup with commendably intimate texturing. Basic image clarity is excellent, allowing even smaller touches -- worn paint, wood grains, odds and ends in the background -- to showcase their wares, too. Skin tones retain a pleasing neutrality and black levels are stable. Overall, this is a technically solid presentation from Anchor Bay.
Adult Beginners features a simple, but generally effective, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track is very straightforward, offering little more beyond music and dialogue. Musical cues present nicely, yielding a positive sense of space across the front but not much in the way of obvious, clearly defined surround information or low end support. Clarity is fine and individual instrumental details are easy to hear. Minor ambience helps set the stage a few times, but rarely does the track create a very obvious or intimate sense of place. Locations such as a bar are the most lively, but much of the movie is content to focus on the front-and-center information. That information usually comes in the way of dialogue, which holds firm in the center and plays with consistent, lifelike clarity.
Adult Beginners contains one supplement. The Making of 'Adult Beginners' (1080p, 9:35) is a quick discussion with Director Ross Katz and Actors Rose Byrne and Nick Kroll. Discussions include story themes and details, character angles, Katz taking the job as director, script and funny moments, cast and crew camaraderie, music in the film, the weather during the shoot, and more.
Adult Beginners falls into a comfortable midpoint in the quirky character-driven Dramedy genre. The story isn't particularly original, nor are the themes, but it gets by on good performances and stable technical specs. It's worth a watch for the performances. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Adult Beginners features technically stable video and audio. One little extra is included. Rent it.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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