ExTerminators Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

ExTerminators Blu-ray Movie Review

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Outsourcing Her Revenge

Reviewed by Michael Reuben May 22, 2012

Heather Graham is the nominal star of ExTerminators, a pitch-black deadpan comedy that went direct to video after festival play failed to land a distributor, but Jennifer Coolidge steals the show. Coolidge got her start in improv comedy, first in New York, then as a member of L.A.'s influential Groundlings, and later as part of Christopher Guest's standing company for largely improvised films like Best in Show and For Your Consideration. She has a peerless ability to play outlandish characters with complete conviction, which made her the perfect actress for both the sexually voracious Stifler's Mom in the American Pie franchise and the romantically insecure Paulette in Legally Blonde.

In ExTerminators, Coolidge plays a resigned divorcee named Stella with supposed road-rage issues, but Coolidge never actually shows any of Stella's rage. It's as if Stella has moved past anger into dissociation, and men are just another species of pest, like the ones she eliminates in the course of her daily work. Whether she's cooking a meal, chatting with her girlfriends, dealing with her business' books or planning to murder some misbehaving boyfriend or spouse, Stella approaches everything with the same sang-froid. Imagine Legally Blonde's Paulette as a sociopath, and you'll get the idea.

ExTerminators was written by Suzanne Weinert, who had been primarily involved on the executive side of independent film. The director was John Inwood, who is better known as a cinematographer, most recently on Parks and Recreation, another production with an offbeat sensibility. The film has "cult classic" written all over it and deserves to be better known.

The story is narrated by Alex Case (Graham), an accountant who is discharged one day in a downsizing (her boss is a cameo by Glenn Morshower, everyone's favorite Secret Service man from 24). Returning home unexpectedly early, Alex catches her no-good man, Tom (Blaine Gray), in flagrante with another woman and tosses him out on his ear. Lonely and angry, she tries retail therapy, but ends up punching out another customer in a department store altercation. The result: a choice between jail time or anger management classes.

The group sessions are run by a self-satisfied therapist, Dr. Press (Drena De Niro, daughter of Robert). Like the line-up in The Usual Suspects, they bring together people who should probably be kept apart. One of them is Stella (Coolidge), who likes to use her car as a weapon. Most recently, she used it on the divorced husband she caught robbing her family's pest control business ("ABC Pest, Big 'n' small, we get 'em all!"). Another participant is Nikki (Amber Heard, almost unrecognizable), a dental hygienist with tattoos, racoon eye makeup and severe black hair who is clearly no stranger to these classes, because she's mastered the lingo. "I have trouble using my words", says Nikki, who responds to any slight from a man with an assault using the nearest implement: a beer (bottle or contents), a lighter, a dentist's drill, fists if necessary. Impulse control is not in Nikki's vocabulary.

A fourth member of the group is Kim (Joey Lauren Adams, she of the unmistakable voice), who defended herself with a fork against an abusive husband, Rick (Charlie Robison). One night, he comes into the bar where the group goes to unwind after a session and knocks Kim around. While Kim is driven to the hospital, Stella, Nikki and Alex tail Rick in his junker until Stella's natural impulses take over and . . . let's just say that Rick and his car would no longer be usable even for spare parts.

Rick's blood alcohol level is so high that the police write off everything as an accident, but Kim figures it out, and as she leaves town to start a new life with a smile on her face, she deposits an envelope of cash at Stella's office. She also drops a word in the ear of a friend with marital trouble, Danielle (Eloise DeJoria). Thus is born a new business for Stella and Nikki—but not for Alex, who wants to put the whole mess behind her.

Besides, Alex has other things on her mind. One of the detectives investigating Rick's death, Dan Burke (Gossip Girl's Matthew Settle), recognizes Alex from college and asks her out. He's cute, he's decent, he may finally be the one, but he's a cop; so Stella and Nikki have to keep Alex in the dark about their new venture. That isn't so easy, because Stella is funneling the considerable proceeds of their two-legged pest removal service through the main business, and she's hired Alex as her accountant. Further complicating matters is the stalker that Alex picked up when she first started doing Stella's books, a creepy IRS agent named Hutt (Sam Lloyd), who abuses his position to prey on pretty girls. Hutt spends hours secretly videotaping Alex, which means he also videotapes Stella and Nikki doing and saying things no one should know about. It isn't long before Alex is trapped between Dan, who's getting serious, her friends, who need her help, and Hutt, who's turned to blackmail.

ExTerminators has its share of outrageous moments, of which the most notable is an extended scene where Stella and Nikki wheel a shopping cart through a Home Depot-like store, filling it with various mayhem-appropriate implements, all while Stella is chatting on the phone with Alex dispensing advice on how to prepare a lovely dinner for Dan. But much of the film's humor is casual and throwaway, like Alex's ludicrously oversized eyeglasses, which are a parody of Hollywood's standard prop for turning a gorgeous actress into an intellectual who sits home waiting for the phone to ring. Of course, there's no greater master of tossed-off humor than Coolidge. In a Hollywood film, Stella would spout feminist platitudes, but here in Coolidge's hands she's the most traditional girl in the world. She still believes that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach; she still cooks for the kids, even though they long ago grew up and moved away; and she's not above the old-fashioned use of sex for favorable treatment, as becomes clear when she urges Alex to do her a favor and treat the IRS guy well to get her a break on her audit.

At the same time, there's that unexpected side of Stella that's willing to kill men for money (though we never see her do it). If you want to know whether she gets away with it, you'll have to watch the film.

ExTerminators Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

ExTerminators was shot in a simple and unfussy style by Robby Baumgartner, who is primarily a second unit director; his second-unit experience shows in the efficient choreography of the car chase sequence. The film was completed on a digital intermediate, from which Image's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray was presumably sourced. The image is clean, detailed and colorful, with a lightly visible grain structure but without obvious "pop" or oversaturation to glamorize the world of Alex, Nikki and Stella. This is a small town, and the main characters are middle class (if that), and no attempt has been made to give this film a Hollywood sheen. (ExTerminators was shot in and around Austin, Texas.) Black levels are solid, as they need to be with Nikki's hairstyle and wardrobe and the many scenes at night. With only one significant extra, the 92-minute film fits comfortably on a BD-25 without compression issues.

ExTerminators Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 provides a front-centered mix with the emphasis on dialogue and limited use of the surrounds. Bass extension isn't particularly strong, even during the car chase, when collision impacts could have been turned up forcibly (but I suspect the filmmakers didn't want them to register too harshly). This is primarily a dialogue-driven film with occasional bits of ambience. The original score by Chris Haijan is serviceable and capably reproduced, along with an interesting selection of indie rock that suits the film's off-kilter aesthetic.

ExTerminators Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Gag Reel (SD, non-enhanced; 1.85:1; 21:29): This lengthy compilation isn't so much a traditional gag reel (although it has some funny bloopers) as a look at how Jennifer Coolidge works. Many of the "mistakes" are her improvs and do-overs, and I was often reminded of the entire reels of ad libs that Ben Stiller included as extras on the Blu-ray of Tropic Thunder.


• Trailers: At startup the disc plays trailers (in standard definition) for The Lightkeepers and Fade to Black. These can be skipped with the chapter forward button and are not otherwise available once the disc loads.

ExTerminators Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I've wanted to see ExTerminators ever since I learned that Jennifer Coolidge is in it. By itself the premise is only so-so, but Coolidge is a unique talent who transforms whatever she does into something special. Stella is one of the biggest parts she's had in a movie, and if you're fan, it's a joy to watch Coolidge reveal the woman's inner kook with the tiniest gestures and intonations. Director Inwood wisely ends the film with Stella and Nikki, but I won't say where they are. For Coolidge fans, highly recommended.