5.9 | / 10 |
Users | 2.7 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.7 |
After the sudden death of her fiancé, Gray Wheeler (Jennifer Garner) finds comfort in the company of his friends: lighthearted and comic Sam (Kevin Smith), hyper- responsible Dennis (Sam Jaeger), and, oddly enough, his old childhood buddy Fritz (Timothy Olyphant), an irresponsible playboy whom she’d previously pegged as one of the least reliable people in the world. As secrets about her supposedly perfect fiancé emerge, Gray comes to see new sides of the man she thought she knew, and at the same time, finds herself drawn to the last man she ever expected to fall for.
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Timothy Olyphant, Sam Jaeger, Kevin Smith, Juliette LewisComedy | 100% |
Romance | 100% |
Drama | 5% |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: LPCM 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, Korean, Thai
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact movie that killed the romantic comedy genre for me, but at some point I developed a general dislike for the majority of films that fall into that classification. There are surely exceptions that demonstrate Hollywood hasn’t lost the ability to generate a “date-worthy” experience (Shakespeare In Love, Love Actually and When Harry Met Sally to name a few), but it seems we’ve been bombarded with one Mathew McConaughey vehicle after another and the chance for the genre to reclaim storytelling credibility has nearly been lost.
With this in mind, I was intrigued to hear the basis for the 2007 film Catch and Release. Written and directed by Susannah Grant, Catch and Release marked her directing debut, though she’s no stranger to romantic comedy screenplays (her writing credits include: Ever After, 28 Days, Erin Brockovich and In Her Shoes). Given her prior writing experience, I had high hopes Grant could take what many would consider difficult subject matter and gracefully create a charming experience built on tragedy. Sadly, my hopes were dashed by the time the credits rolled.
That's the exact look on my face by the time I was done watching this film.
Presented in 1080p utilizing the MPEG-2 codec (at an average bitrate of 23Mbps), Catch and Release offers a satisfying visual experience, but never achieves the level of quality found on a reference release. Considering this was an early Blu-ray offering, detail is surprisingly well-defined, with a pleasing level of depth in most scenes. Unfortunately, that's where the strengths end, and the weaknesses begin. Color saturation wavers between overly bright or dreadfully dull, with skin tones that appear pale and unnatural at times. Black levels are appropriately deep, but several interior shots exhibit subpar contrast resulting in a loss of shadow detail in the darker portions of the screen. This is especially apparent in low-light sequences, where background details have a tendency to become splotchy. Lastly, I was disappointed to find some minor edge enhancement around character outlines. It doesn't happen often enough to impact the viewing experience in a significant way, but it's still worth mentioning.
Overall, the transfer is a fine example of how far the Blu-ray format has come since it's inception. It still holds up well next to the average high-definition release, but pales in comparison to the best offerings the format has to offer.
The default audio track on the disc is a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, which doesn't come close to matching the audio proficiency of the Linear PCM 5.1 track. Once you deal with the minor hassle of switching tracks, you can sit back and soak up the increased clarity of the lossless sound mix. One of the highlights of the film as a whole is the indie-folk soundtrack that effectively sets the mood during the many emotional sequences. The musical numbers are well-balanced throughout the entire soundfield with a wonderful level of precision and grace. If you're looking for much more out of this dialogue-heavy experience, you may be a little disappointed. With the exception of the occasional environmental effects, the track remains heavily grounded in the front soundstage and doesn't offer much in the way of an LFE channel. For a romantic comedy, the audio is certainly adequate, but not something I'd consider inspired or overly engaging.
From Concept to Completion (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 20:29 min): Director Susannah Grant offers an in-depth discussion of the themes and ideas she brought to the story, as well as a brief history of the production from start to beginning. Other key players in the film are also interviewed to a lesser extent, but I preferred Ms. Grant's first-person perspective on what she was going for in writing and directing the film.
Deleted Scenes (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 3:33 min): Two deleted scenes are included, but the second one with Kevin Smith drinking beer while feeling sorry for himself is the only one of any value.
Auditions (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 14:17 min): This supplement contains clips from the initial auditions with Kevin Smith, Sam Jaeger and Juliette Lewis. I've never found auditions very interesting in the first place, and these offerings are no exception.
Lastly, we have a commentary track with Susannah Grant and Kevin Smith, as well as a second commentary track with Susannah Grant and cinematographer John Lindley. I didn't listen to each track extensively, but preferred the track with Kevin Smith (who manages to inject some comedy) over the technical focus of John Lindley.
Catch and Release is a perfect example of an interesting concept hampered by poor execution. The film could have been a memorable experience if it were written as a drama about 4 individuals dealing with the loss of someone special, but the addition of flat comedy and out-of-place romance sucks the potential completely away. There's a chance my feelings are related to mistaken impressions going into the film (it's difficult to consider this a romantic comedy), but I can safely say I have no desire to ever watch it again. If you're a fan of Catch and Release, the technical proficiency of the Blu-ray makes it an easy recommendation for your collection, but I'd advise everyone else stick with a rental first to see if your experience is more favorable than mine.
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