Joe Somebody Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Joe Somebody Blu-ray Movie Review

Better "somebody" than "nobody."

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 30, 2012

Making you better than you really are.

Rude people suck. Cocky people suck. Haughty people suck. It's time (Joe) somebody fought back. But maybe it's also time that (Joe) somebody took a long, hard look in the mirror. Director John Pasquin's (Jungle 2 Jungle) Joe Somebody looks at a life drastically altered by a confrontation with a workplace bully, a guy who is, yup, rude, cocky, and haughty. It's a story of fighting back, not necessarily against the other person, but against one's own misguided desire to change, to become someone else, to conform because he feels that being the man he's always been -- the man shaped by years and years of varied and personal life experiences -- just isn't good enough anymore, just can't be right because of a single "failing" on a single point along the story of life. There's a lot to be learned here -- or at least reinforced -- about self-esteem, respect, understanding, and conflict resolution, with perhaps the ultimate message being one of the most timeless and almost always applicable: "to thine own self be true." Yes, rude, crude, cocky, haughty, and mean people suck, but what doesn't suck is maintaining a personal balance, fighting battles only worth fighting, and remaining honest to oneself even when the part of the world that sees things differently says it's time for a change.

Just a nobody.

Stark Pharmaceutical's "Video Communications Specialist" Joe Scheffer (Tim Allen) works hard, but he's largely invisible. He's been with the company for a decade, and is still awaiting a critical promotion promised to him long ago. On "bring your daughter to work day," he does just that, but finds himself wishing he hadn't even before getting inside the building. He's cut off in the parking lot and his space stolen by Mark McKinney (Patrick Warburton), a seven-year veteran of Stark who by rule and definition cannot park in the ten-year employee lot. Joe decides to take matters into his own hands and demand Mark surrender the space, but Joe's only humiliated and bloodied for his efforts, forcing him to leave work in disgrace. He distances himself from the world, ignoring the calls of his concerned daughter Natalie (Hayden Panettiere) and shutting himself inside his own home. He's approached by the company's kindly counselor, Meg Harper (Julie Bowen), who's become fond of Joe and wants to see him through his personal crisis. Suddenly, Joe decides to confront his problem rather than hide from it. He challenges Mark to a fight in three weeks time, three weeks to whip himself into shape and transform himself into a superior, confident, and strong man. But as Joe's transformation takes shape, he must decide if he's truly become someone else or if the old Joe is preferable to the new.

Joe Somebody's Joe, as his name suggests, does indeed represent something of an everyman character, a man trying his best to get through life while toeing the line that life has drawn, that others traverse and sometimes trample and even occasionally run over the foot of another traveler. When his world is shaken by a "small" incident at work, he experiences "big" problems. The steady but largely invisible Joe suddenly finds himself suffering from societal withdrawal, self-punishment, self-doubt, and panic attacks, all because he stood up for what is right but found that wrong can sometimes -- and often does -- win the day. Joe then finds himself with three choices: he can run away from his problems, he can confront them head-on, or he can let it all go and look much worse for wear to his colleagues and to himself. Or perhaps there's a fourth option, confronting the problem from another angle, taking the high road, and by doing so learning that Joe isn't average, but instead just Joe, and being Joe rather than somebody else is always better than conforming to others' wants and needs and perspectives, for if there's anything worse than a person who's ugly on the inside, it's a person who uglies himself just to fit in with the wrong crowd.

Joe Somebody is also a movie about perspective and differences. Some people may see a quibble over a parking space to be something insignificant, but as should be readily evident by now, there are no two absolutely alike people in the entire world, and one man's fleeting moment is another man's midlife crisis. Life is about prerogatives and priority, all shaped by unique experiences and beliefs. Calling others out for an absence of conformity or engaging in conflict over petty differences of the "no harm, no foul" variety seems an excuse to create problems where they do not exist. But then there's the other side of the coin, standing up for principles, which is what sparks the conflict of Joe Somebody. Joe must weigh his disillusionment with petty wrongdoing against his own inner and outer determination to see justice through. Is conflict worth the price of standing up for a belief? Is this the right battle to choose? How will he deal with the repercussions of either winning or losing? No matter the outcome, the most important lesson he can take from the experience is staying true to who he is, not abandoning his principles at the moment he needs them the most, not succumbing to the temptation to change for the worse after a failure to redirect the world for the better. The movie is about honor, integrity, self-esteem, confidence, and all of those things which are challenged through conflict. The movie blends, sometimes with success, sometimes without, the role of personal integrity both in one's own life and in the greater world around him.

Of course, being a Tim Allen movie, Joe Somebody tackles these rather fundamental but nevertheless critical life-shaping questions with plenty of humor and, yes, some heart. There's even a romantic element at the core, which allows the audience to contemplate the questions without becoming bogged down in mental and physical tedium. The picture is well paced and spunky; the script is witty and the humor, both verbal and physical, hits far more often than it misses. The performances are steady, too. Tim Allen plays, well, a typical Tim Allen character, a man who tries really hard in all he does but who continues on through both his successes and his failures, ultimately coming to learn several lessons by film's end that promise to solidify who he is and always has been. Jim Belushi plays a lovable and wise but slightly off-kilter martial artist and washed-up movie star who's something of a bumbling, burned-out Mr. Miyagi-like sage in the movie, helping Joe to perfect his punches and kicks but serving as one of the three characters who help guide Joe towards the perfect resolution to his conflict. The second is Julie Bowen's Meg, who provides a steady presence in the film, but the movie's true star is Hayden Panettiere who plays the wise-for-her age Natalie, Joe's daughter and the driving force behind the notion that integrity and honesty to oneself is preferable to malleability to suit the moment, even as she herself undergoes something of an identity crisis at school.

Joe Somebody Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Joe Somebody's 1080p Blu-ray transfer is awfully frustrating, looking rather good here and rather bad there. The image sometimes sports good details and a grain overlay, but there are other spots where the image appears smooth while taking on a flat, plastic texture. Additionally, the image ranges from satisfactorily crisp to a touch smeary. Detail is best in close-ups of wooden accents, textured furniture, and similar items. Colors are fairly bold and bright, with the Target sequence sporting a very nice myriad of shades. Slight blocking and banding are evident, nicks and pops are present but hardly qualify as more than a nuisance, and edge halos and jagged lines are fairly commonplace, giving the movie a phony, uneven appearance. This is a transfer that can look fairly good at-a-glance, but its trouble spots are many and obvious the longer one watches.

Joe Somebody Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Joe Somebody's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack offers a fair listen that serves the movie well. Music is bouncy and light, enjoying fine spacing, strong clarity, and a positive low end that gives it body and flair. Additionally, music enjoys a prominent, but not overwhelming, surround sound element. Ambience is nicely immersive, though perhaps not quite seamless. The atmospherics of the company cafeteria, outdoor elements, and other, slightly more reserved sounds play with a smoothness and natural flair that serve the track well. The ambiance of the Timberwolves basketball game does play as a bit harsh and disjointed, however. Dialogue is the key here, and it plays cleanly and efficiently through the center channel. This track does all it can for the material, and the end result is a pleasant but forgettable lossless presentation.

Joe Somebody Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Joe Somebody contains four brief supplements.

• Making Joe Somebody (480p, 15:07): An all-encopasing piece that features cast and crew talking up the story, themes, characters, the work of the cast, shooting in a harsh Minnesota winter, production design, and costuming.
• Scarett's Method (480p, 5:10): A closer look at Jim Belushi's part in the movie and the film's fight choreography.
• Deleted Scenes (480p, 4:04).
• Joe Somebody Trailer (480p, 2:14).

Joe Somebody Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Joe Somebody nicely balances "sweet," "funny," and "dramatic." Its core is solid, the story worthwhile, and the movie fun to watch. It's not heavy but it will leave its audience thinking when they're done laughing, always a good sign. Fine performances round out a pretty solid little movie. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Joe Somebody features disappointing video, fair audio, and a few supplements. Worth a rental, and maybe a buy whenever it makes its way to the bargain bin.