He Said, She Said Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

He Said, She Said Blu-ray Movie Review

An entertaining romantic-comedy highlighting beautiful performances.

He said, she said is an entertaining romantic-comedy with a unique spin on the genre. Produced by Frank Mancuso Jr. (Stigmata, Ronin), He said, she said is part battle-of-the-sexes comedy and part romantic-drama. Starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Perkins, He said, she said surprises with an engagingly heartfelt storyline and plenty of on-screen chemistry between the leading stars.

Dan Hanson (Kevin Bacon) and Lorie Bryer (Elizabeth Perkins) are journalists working in the same field. Fighting for the same stories at their outlet, the two journalists find themselves in a competitive stand-still when both are tasked with writing their own takes on a big story: “he said” and “she said” (while each reporter works on a talk show that goes by the “He Said, She Said” name).

Yet the office isn’t relegated to the news reports only. The two journalists find themselves in a romantic tango. The film explores their romance with the first half of the film being from “his” perspective about the romance and the second segment of the film being from “her” perspective about their relationship. Can these two journalists find a happy ending?

Kevin Bacon delivers a solid performance. The actor has fun with his comedic role and certainly seems invigorated by the part. The performance recalls some of his best performances (and there are even scenes which inspire flashbacks to Footloose). Elizabeth Perkins is charming, sweet, and lovable. An engaging performance and one that offers a lot of chemistry. Both Bacon and Perkins are perfect casting. The performances reward and make the movie all-the-more special.

The production design by Michael Corenblith (The Finest Hours, Saving Mr. Banks) is excellent and one of the finer points of the entire film production. Corenblith is an excellent designer and the sets are certainly compelling. The production seems believable in the realm of news journalism and that is certainly well translated by the designer.

"Potato, po-ta-toe."

Art director David J. Bomba (Cool World, Chain Reaction) also provides He said, she said with the requisite ingredients necessary for an impressive film experience. The film has a impressive artistic approach. Some of the best scenes in the film are experimental by nature (with one scene having the curiously humble Kevin Bacon breaking the third wall with a dream-like moment). Art director Bomba certainly instills these scenes with plenty of creative energy.

The costumes by Deena Appel (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me) are excellent and perfectly designed for the central cast members. Appel found perfect balance between the glamour and ordinary. The costumes showcase the routine day-to-day elements of workplace life for a newspaper journalist while the romantic scenes highlight the actors with fitting designs (especially the beautiful costumes for Elizabeth Perkins).

The score composed by Miles Goodman (Little Shop of Horrors, Teen Wolf) is enjoyable and provides the film with a delicate and moving backdrop. The score is simply wonderful fun. The music feels inspired by the filmmaking and the excellent performances. Goodman did an excellent job with the film. The score is superb.

The cinematography by Stephen H. Burum (Mission: Impossible, The Shadow) is another exceptional highlight of the production. Burum crafted compelling visuals for the film and the cinematography instinctively reflects the ho-drum ordinariness of the newspaper circuit and the flashy fun of the romantic scenes outside of the newsroom.

Written by Brian Hohlfeld (Abdul Loves Cleopatra, Piglet's Big Movie), He said, she said is a wonderful script. The title of the script might call to mind something far different from the actual reality of the storyline: workplace sexual harassment and a back-and-forth tango. The script is much better than audiences might expect from the dated title. The characters are well fleshed out and the romantic elements are beautiful and well-written.

Directed by Ken Kwapis (A Walk in the Woods, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and Marisa Silver (Vital Signs, Permanent Record), He said, she said is a wonderful romantic-comedy. The film has lots of fun with the newspaper column concept and directors Kwapis and Silver bring out the best of the cast while emphasizing the wonderful attributes within the script. The directing is spot-on and the pacing is excellent.

He Said, She Said Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Paramount, He said, she said is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1 widescreen. The presentation by Paramount provides an excellent scan of the film. The presentation has excellent color reproduction. The film quality looks excellent and the print doesn't suffer from major issues with print degradation (scratches and the like). The print is clean and the encoding is excellent.

He Said, She Said Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound. The lossless audio quality is superb. Dialogue is crisp and sounds wonderful on the release. The surrounds are actively utilized. A surround presentation highlighting the music score (and the implementation is rewarding). While not the most complex sound mix, the surround actively is more active than most romantic-comedies and there is little to complain about with the solid implementation. A solid encode by Paramount.

He Said, She Said Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Audio Commentary featuring directors Ken Kwapis and Marisa Silver, writer Brian Hohlfeld and cinematographer Stephen H. Burum

Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:26)

He Said, She Said Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

He said, she said is an entertaining romantic-comedy. The concept of the film revolves around Dan Hanson (Kevin Bacon) and Lorie Bryer (Elizabeth Perkins) going toe-to-toe as journalists vying for covering the same stories. The result? "He said, she said" – a report providing both with voices. Entertaining, moving, and well-made, He said, she said is a wonderful delight. The Blu-ray has an excellent presentation of the film (with quality video and audio by Paramount). Highly recommended.