6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
The friendship between two life-long girlfriends is put to the test when one starts a family and the other falls ill.
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Toni Collette, Dominic Cooper, Paddy Considine, Tyson RitterRomance | 100% |
Comedy | 75% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A pull quote emblazoned across the back cover of Miss You Already proclaims the film “Beaches for 2015” (a quote weirdly lacking the seemingly required exclamation point), and that may indeed be all some potential viewers need to know about this unabashed tear jerker. Though the title of the film may not actually mean exactly what it seems to be implying, it nonetheless lets the cat out of the bag that someone in the film may not be around anymore (or will alternatively not make it to the end of the film), so there’s very little actual suspense as to what the upshot of the film’s dramatic “arc” is going to be. (The fact that the film is based on a novel titled Goodbye might provide another salient clue.) Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore portray near lifelong friends Milly and Jess, and the film wastes no time in offering a quick montage documenting their years of togetherness. A couple of quick vignettes elide the women’s young adult years, with both of them supposedly “settling down” to domestic bliss, even if some cracks in the home wallpaper may already be showing. The main “three hankie weeper” elements start to intrude when Milly is diagnosed with breast cancer, but the film also wants to tug at the veritable heartstrings in a perhaps slightly less fatalistic way in a simultaneous story which sees Jess attempting to become pregnant, an attempt that has been fraught with failure for some time. There is no denying that there is a maudlin tone running through huge swaths of Miss You Already, but it’s to the principal cast’s credit that the film often feels surprisingly sharp and tart, refusing to totally give in to waves of pathos.
Miss You Already is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. While the IMDb doesn't list too many technical aspects of this release, digging through various online interviews and other data suggests this was digitally shot largely with the Arri Alexa (though, as mentioned above in the main body of the review, Hardwicke evidently used her iPhone for at least a couple of sequences). The results are solid but never overly impressive. Hardwicke and DP Elliot Davis favor extreme close-ups, and those can often offer abundant fine detail, even when the image is color graded (as much of this film is). While there's the attendant sharpness and clarity that typifies this format, things never really pop in any meaningful way, and several darker sequences are hobbled by a murky ambience and less than convincing shadow detail. A few brief moments have been artificially "distressed" (see screenshot 19), something that further depletes detail levels. There are no problems with image instability and no overtly problematic compression issues.
Miss You Already features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which frankly simply doesn't have a lot of opportunity to strut any overly impressive surround stuff. This is a relatively quiet, intimate film built out of small scale dialogue scenes, and as such the surround channels are utilized mostly for ambient environmental effects and occasional support from Harry Gregson-Williams' score. While there's not a glut of "wow" immersion here, there's consistent if subtle use of the side and rear channels, and dialogue, the chief component of this soundtrack, always is rendered cleanly and clearly.
Those wanting an unabashed "three hankie weeper" will find more than enough to keep them engaged in Miss You Already, even if the film traffics in a lot of material that has been seen in any number of prior films (including Beaches, not to mention the obvious). Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.
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