Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Jexi Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 13, 2020

Maybe you’ve seen that 1953 newspaper article quoting an executive from the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company which features some eerily prescient predictions about what phones of the “future” (within the context of 1953) will be like, just as eerily and presciently presented under the headline: There’ll Be No Escape in Future from Telephones. Lest anyone think that the article was so-called “fake news”, Snopes has deemed the article to be true. Mark R. Sullivan, the aforementioned executive quoted in the article, may have had any given smartphone in mind when he made his comments, but the headline of the article might be deemed to refer to the relationship between Phil (Adam DeVine), an unrepentant nerd working for a Buzzfeed like “listicle” website, and his new phone, which features an AI app named Jexi (voiced rather hilariously by Rose Byrne). Phil is, like many in his generation, seemingly surgically attached to his phone, so much so that he wanders cluelessly through an incredibly scenic San Francisco, and just as cluelessly smashes into a bike shop worker named Cate (Alexandra Shipp), which ultimately leads to the demise of that particular pre-Jexi phone. When he visits his local phone emporium, he’s confronted by a snarky saleswoman named Denice (Wanda Sykes) who provides him with his new device, which “houses” Jexi. Within seconds, Jexi, whose first statement is that she’s there to make Phil’s life better, asserts complete control over the hapless schlub’s existence, frequently insulting him outright for his “stupid” behaviors, but also urging him into taking a few chances along the way.

Several of the supplements on this disc have behind the scenes footage of Jexi being shot, and it’s clear that this entry was initially titled The Phone, though some may feel that tweaking more than the mere name of this enterprise might have helped it more substantially. There’s a kind of rote quality to the proceedings at times, but that said, I have to say that Jexi actually did make me laugh out loud on more than one occasion, despite its overly self aware hipster proclivities. There’s little question that Jexi is going to coerce Phil into some changes, and the film’s general trajectory is probably overly predictable. But there are a few appealing detours along the way, including Jexi getting jealous when Phil and Cate start to develop a relationship.

The film has a very appealing supporting cast, including Ron Funches and Charlyne Yi as co-workers at “Chatterbox”, the site Phil also works for. Michael Pena plays the site’s owner, who is regularly harassing Phil for one reason or the other. DeVine, who has been such an appealing presence on shows like Modern Family, is equally affable here, nicely articulating Phil’s underlying sweetness, even if he’s occasionally on the geeky side. Jexi also makes good use of its San Francisco locations, and hopefully viewers of the film won’t be glued to their phones and will be able to appreciate the scenery.

Jexi Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jexi is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films and CBS Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. While the IMDb once again comes up short on technical data, some of the supplements on this disc clearly show Arri cameras being utilized, and I'm assuming things were finished at a 2K DI. This is a sharp, well detailed looking presentation that benefits from the beautiful surroundings of San Francisco. Outdoor material pops very nicely, with some substantial depth of field in wide shots. Detail and fine detail levels are generally excellent throughout, and the film is commendably free of a over aggressive grading or weird lighting choices (there's one raucous party that is the exception to this rule, but detail levels are rather surprisingly strong even in that sequence).

Note: I had one kind of odd thing happen as I was checking out special features on this disc: at one point, the disc returned to the main menu montage, but there were no menu options, just the underlying imagery. I had to stop the disc and reboot it to get things to return to normal (meaning I had to go through the endless Lionsgate masthead, FBI warnings and the like).

Jexi Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jexi features an effective DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that tends to provide the most noticeable immersion in some of the outdoor scenes, as in a kickball event Phil attends with his new co-worker BFFs. That said, a lot of the film takes place in smaller scale settings where surround activity can tend to be relatively tamped down. Dialogue, effects and score are all rendered cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.

Jexi Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Jexi: Making Life Better (1080p; 21:35) is a fun piece that includes interviews with co-writers and co-directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, along with producer Suzanne Todd.


• Unboxing Jexi (1080p; 8:55) is another enjoyable featurette which focuses on some aspects of the production design with regard to both the phone and box it comes in.


• Filming in Fog City (1080p; 6:37) features various cast and crew talking about the San Francisco filming experience.


• Tech Bros (1080p; 5:31) offers various cast and crew talking about what "tech bros" are.


• Phone Fixation (1080p; 7:09) is kind of cheekily amusing, as it explores how much various cast and crew have been utilizing their own cellphones. Spoiler alert: Alexandra Shipp "wins" (meaning she used hers the least), with Charlyne Yi maybe getting a wake up call (pun intended) about needing to interface with actual living, breathing humans once in a while.

Jexi Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I hadn't really heard much about Jexi before watching it, and I was kind of surprised in doing some research after I watched it that it had failed so spectacularly at the box office and with the critical masses. This is certainly no masterpiece, but it made me laugh more consistently than some much higher profile supposed comedies over the past few months have. If you're a fan of the co-writer and co-directors' previous films The Hangover and/or Bad Moms, you're probably going to be in tune enough with the comedic sensibility here to enjoy Jexi despite its flaws. Fans of the cast may consider this an agreeable enough time passer as well, and for those who are considering a purchase, technical merits are solid.