6 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Reuben Feffer is a guy who's spent his entire life playing it safe. Polly Prince is irresistible as a free-spirit who lives for the thrill of the moment. When these two comically mismatched souls collide, Reuben's world is turned upside down, as he makes an uproarious attempt to change his life from middle-of-the-road to totally-out-there!
Starring: Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing, Alec BaldwinComedy | 100% |
Romance | 59% |
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: Dolby Digital 2.0
French: DTS 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Writer John Hamburg obviously found himself with a major hit on his hands with Meet the Parents, the 2000 Ben Still and Robert De Niro comedy, a hit that opened some doors for him to write and direct a number of features to follow. Though not his directorial debut, 2004's Along Came Polly was certainly his first major directing gig. Again starring Ben Stiller, Hamburg's project, which he also wrote, was a major box office hit despite lukewarm-to-poor critical response. The film pairs Stiller with Jennifer Aniston in a RomCom about trusting the heart rather than taking an analytical approach to life.
As far as Universal catalogue releases go, Along Came Polly isn't at all bad. The 1080p transfer is certainly not going to knock any socks off, but it's a relatively healthy, consistently stable, and foundationally filmic image that handles duties fairly well, all things considered, and mercifully does not fall into that realm of so many Universal catalogue titles that are clearly a byproduct of a DVD era master. While this is certainly not any great shakes, it doesn't appear to be overzealously scrubbed and digitized, instead holding to a pleasing filmic veneer that allows natural film textures to present on the screen and satisfy at least essential format expectations. The result is some nice, tangible texturing out on city streets, for example, as well as good definition to faces, clothes, an even sandy beaches as seen in the film's bookends. Colors are appropriately bold, lacking absolute vividness and complete precision, but boasting good foundational yield across a broad spectrum of colors, again both in city exteriors, various interiors (from cooler offices to warmer restaurants), and, again, the beach. Black levels are fine, whites balance is good, and skin tones look fairly close to accurate. There is very little in the way of print wear to consider and the encode is in good shape. Yes, a fresh 4K master would do a load of good, but this is surpasses the expectations for a Universal catalogue release of this vintage.
Universal releases Along Came Polly to Blu-ray with a standard issue DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack encode. The presentation actually has some very good high point and high yield moments. As the film opens, listeners will enjoy a nice sense of engaging raucous and rowdy content at a brief wedding ceremony montage. As the (then) happy couple arrives at their Caribbean honeymoon destination, the Caribbean-style music enters the listening area with wonderful depth and spacing. There are some scattered prominent impact effects throughout the film, especially in a sequence out at sea just over an hour into the movie where a big thunderclap booms and heavy winds push the boat to and fro, with water splashing and odds and ends rolling around belowdecks. The track also handles city atmosphere, the music and din at a Salsa dance club, and other environmental cues quite nicely for clarity and surround wrap. Musical content is pleasing, with score playing with fine definition across the front and offering essential support through the backs. Dialogue enjoys perfect prioritization, grounded front-center placement, and excellent clarity in every scene.
This Blu-ray release of Along Came Polly contains several bonus features, but they must all be accessed in-film via the "pop-up" menu
screen.
There is no "top menu on the disc. Pressing the "pop-up" menu button brings up a traditional (albeit now older style) Universal menu, so why there is
no top menu screen is curious (can that really save any money or time in disc production?). When the film ends, it begins playback again
with the pop-up menu automatically activated to the "Extras" tab. Anyway, that "pop-up" menu includes options to
play the film, select chapters, setup video and audio, and choose amongst the extras, which are outlined below. No DVD or digital copies are included
with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.
Along Came Polly is a film of extremes: extreme infidelity: extreme caution, extreme commitment issues, one character's extreme living, another character's extreme desire to be relevant again. But the film works to bring most all of them to a middle ground by film's end and, of course, offer audiences a "happily ever after" that seems "hopelessly ever after" only minutes into the movie. It's a decent entertainer that should satisfy genre fans who don't mind a little bit of crude humor along the way. Universal's Blu-ray actually looks and sounds pretty good for a catalogue title, and a handful of extras are included. Fans will be pleased.
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