Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Dad Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 7, 2020

This Mill Creek Blu-ray release of 'Dad' is currently only available as part of a double feature with 'I'm Not Rappaport.' As it is, the two share a single disc.

Jake Tremont (Jack Lemon) is an elderly man who needs help caring for himself, but his wife Bette (Olympia Dukakis) tends to do too much. He has no freedom, no sense of individuality. When Bette falls ill and lands in the hospital, Jake is lost but at the same time finds a newfound independence that has been missing in his life. His workaholic son John (Ted Danson) returns home to care for his father. The two bond in friendship through shared time together, and when John's son Billy (Ethan Hawke) visits, John comes to realize he's been neglecting his relationship with him. But as life's struggles mount and age catches up with the eldest Tremonts, time runs short for the family's reunion and the opportunity to build on the foundation that the decades have laid.

Dad is best described as a slice of life film: it’s heartfelt, heartwarming, and heartbreaking. It looks at life’s challenges and rewards through the eyes of three generations, each in different life stages with differing life views but bound together by blood and love. The film sees each character come to terms with how they have been living and grow even out of shared pain and tragedy. Few films are so soulfully real as Dad.

Dad Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dad's 1080p transfer fares quite well, as does its disc mate, the above-referenced I'm Not Rappaport. Even with the shared storage space Dad feels like it has plenty of room to breathe. Mill Creek's image maintains a faithful filmic façade, sporting a natural grain structure that rarely deviates from a quickly established density. It's not super fine but it's not at all chunky. Details are exceptionally well defined across the board. Each character appears with firm command of core skin details, and the generational ranges seen throughout the film allow for a nice cross-section to explore, from smooth, clean skin to wrinkly, aged skin. Details hold firm across the spectrum, and characters are supported by both well defined clothing articles and sharp environments which range from cozy home interiors to classy board rooms, from city streets to grocery store isles. The color palette is not teeming with brilliance but nether does it appear faded to any detrimental extreme. Colors could stand a little more punch and pop but the tones appear faithful to the movie's traditionally dialed-in contrast and temperature. Skin tones are healthy and black levels are fine. The picture shows the occasional print speckle and fiber but is otherwise free of debilitating damage. There are no serious compression artifacts to report, either. Dad looks fairly good on Blu-ray, all things considered.

Dad Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dad's audio needs are met by way of a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. The track offers mild ambient stretch in the supermarket early in the film: voices and other light details poke about, and such similarities continue in various outdoor scenes in the city where sirens, chatter, cars, and the like merge and collectively do a fine job of filling the front end of the listening area with some generalized, but productive, sonic goodness. Music enjoys adequate clarity and front-end width. The film is dialogue heavy but it's handled nicely here. The voices emanate from an imaged front-center location with little perceptible stretch towards the edges. It's well prioritized and nicely detailed, never sounding shallow or flat.

Dad Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, no supplemental content is included on this disc.

Dad Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dad holds up as a genuine slice-of-life film. Fine performances carry a richly layered but very accessible story of family, life, loss, and understanding it all. It's great stuff. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is featureless but the video and audio presentations are serviceable. Recommended.