Boogie Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Boogie Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 5, 2021

Boogie plays like a modern adaptation of the classic Hoop Dreams with a Chinese culture twist. The film is firmly rooted in the world that surrounds one young man, a young man gifted at basketball and looking for a path forward to college and, he hopes, to the NBA. However, the intersections of family, culture, and the realities of life all threaten to stall or destroy his aspirations. The film, from first-time director Eddie Huang, shows great promise for both its director and its star, exploring with meaning, purpose, and drive the life of a modern cross-cultural athlete in the 21st century.

18-year-old Boogie Chen (Taylor Takahashi) is a Queens native who has just transferred to a new school, City Prep, so he can play against another phenom named “Monk” (Bashar “Pop Smoke” Jackson) and gain attention to his talents. His parents (Perry Yung and Pamelyn Chee) hope to send him off to college with a full-ride athletic scholarship. That’s what Boogie wants, too, but his new school, strategically chosen for maximum exposure of his talents, is not exactly home to a thriving basketball landscape. His team is “hot trash,” he says: not the people, the play. The previous year the team won all of three games. That puts him at odds with his coach (Domenick Lombardozzi) who recognizes Boogie’s talents but won’t accept his poor attitude. Boogie is recruited by some top division 1 schools, including Georgetown and St. Johns, but there’s no scholarship money for him.

Tension builds when Boogie’s manager, Melvin (Mike Moh), a man of Asian descent who doesn’t speak Chinese, eyes a year playing in China for Boogie rather than at an NCAA Division 1 school. That’s where the rub comes in. Does he wait out a scholarship to stay in the states or take a lucrative offer from China and hope that a year of honing his skills will earn him a second look? Meanwhile, Boogie builds a relationship with his classmate, Eleanor (Taylour Paige).

Boogie may be pieced together from stock components but the film is not without merit. It is not an empty venture. It’s raw and real and there’s some deep draw into the story, shaped by genuine emotion and complex family and cultural dynamics. The movie isn’t simply the classic underdog story or superficial inspirational Sports film. It offers a slice-of-life perspective not often seen on the screen, and the payoff is not necessarily whether Boogie will get to play and earn that scholarship but rather how he, his family, and the characters around him deal with he realities of modern urban life clashing with deeply held traditions and cultural norms that pull Boogie in two distinct directions as he attempts to pivot towards a future in basketball. The film is very well versed in its world and characters, supported by a promising screen debut from Taylor Takahashi who, with the right material to get him there, may very well become a star. He couldn't be better in this role, and in a first role at that. And neither could Huang, who writes deeply and directs knowingly, meshing together a movie that is greater than the sum of its otherwise cut-and-paste parts.

Boogie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The digitally photographed Boogie arrives on Blu-ray with a very good 1080p transfer. It's clean, sharp, richly colorful, and a pleasure to watch. The urban details are stunning. Street-level exteriors, whether around town or out on the court – even at night – are highly revealing and three dimensional, pulling the viewer into any of the film's key exteriors where breadth of detail and tangible environmental draw are definite positives for the image. Likewise, several key interiors are handsomely sharp, such as inside the Chin home or the classroom where several scenes are set. Basics like facial definition are sharp and pure, as are examples of human hair and dense urban clothing. Colors are vibrant, never failing to impress for depth and brilliance alike. The palette is regularly rich and pleasing, particularly as clothes offer some of the most compelling opportunities for spectrum diversity and agreeability in the film. Black levels are excellent, particularly at night and notably during a key basketball game that takes place outdoors and at night late in the film. Flesh tones look true across the film's diverse character display. Light noise does creep into some of the lower light shots but there are no other source eyesores or encode shortcomings of note. This is a fine looking Blu-ray from Universal.

Boogie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Boogie's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers a well-rounded listen. Clarity is excellent, deep and wide spacing comes naturally, and the low end kicks in as needed, particularly in support of some of the more prominent musical beats heard throughout the film. The urban soundtrack is excellent; it's penetratingly deep and aggressive, wide bodied, too, but mostly defined by that prominent subwoofer output. One of the best elements this track has on offer is the copious amounts of urban atmosphere. City din proliferates the track with ease, efficiency, and immersion. It's richly detailed, perfectly spaced, and appropriately integrated in terms of volume and balance. The track is in some way alive in almost every scene. In many ways music and sound effects are the heartbeat here and rarely does a scene go by without one or the other – or both – in some level of output excellence. Dialogue remains well prioritized through it all; it's clear and remains center-positioned for the duration.

Boogie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Boogie includes a few featurettes and a trailer. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. However, a DVD copy is not. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• The Road to Boogie-Town (1080p, 2:32): Eddie Huang recruiting Taylor Takahashi to play the lead role. Also: character details, plot basics, and more.
• Eddie Huang: It's Personal (1080p, 2:07): The writer/director explores how the story is told and the characters are shaped through the prism of basketball. It looks at Huang's direction and passion for the project, too.
• Shout Out to Pop Smoke (1080p, 1:20): A quick look at the late rapper's work as the film's other basketball player, Monk.
• In-Theater Trailer (1080p, 2:16): A quick making-of in the guise of a trailer.

Boogie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Boogie heralds an auspicious beginning for its star and its director. Both work as if screen veterans but both are making their feature film debut here. The picture is smoothly built, vividly written, and strongly acted. From the outside looking in it has the look of a paint-by-numbers affair but there's enough heart and perspective to offset any such concerns. It's a fine film. Universal's Blu-ray delivers high end video and audio presentations. A few very brief extras are included. Recommended.