Mr. Right Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Mr. Right Blu-ray Movie Review

Too quirky.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 18, 2016

If one word perfectly describes Mr. Right, that word is "overkill." It's overkill in that it's about an assassin with a penchant for taking the task a bit further than is required to put the subject down. It's also overkill in its relentless push for humor in every scene, a push that renders the best jokes background noise in a sea of hopeless and hapless gags and one-liners that pile up like a massive car wreck instead of yielding the occasional, and well-timed, laugh. Director Paco Cabezas' (Rage) and Writer Max Landis' (American Ultra) film desperately, and usually to futile result, wants to capture a quirky sense of humor in every single frame. A try-hard through-and-through, Mr. Right mostly gets it wrong, with the groan-inducing script covering up an otherwise pleasant, if not needless, exercise in bringing together the worlds of love and assassination.

Martha McCay (Anna Kendrick) finds herself on the outs with her boyfriend when he brings home another girl and tries to reconcile the situation by glamorizing the potential of a threesome, which she dismisses outright. Francis (Sam Rockwell) is a top-tier assassin who is known to don a clown nose in the line of duty. But he's no longer game to play the game. He finds himself on the run from his employers, which eventually leads to a chance meeting with Martha. He asks her out moments after they meet. A day together sows the seeds of a happy relationship, but when Martha finds herself in the middle of mayhem and murder, she begins to doubt the relationship's potential. Francis, however, manages to draw out her inner assassin and, together, the two maneuver through a minefield of deadly encounters en route to happily ever after.

Mr. Right is a more dopey, less funny, and certainly less memorable version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Grosse Pointe Blank, and True Lies (and, seriously, what is it with this and The Abyss being so hard to get released onto Blu-ray? Hopefully with UHD hitting its stride, releases in 4K won't be far behind), all movies that have found significantly more success in bridging the divide between secret, violent profession and sweet home life romance. Mr. Right takes the concept and grates on the bones. Every single scene, it seems, is either Francis, Martha, or both doing that thing that so many modern Comedies do where a character talks himself or herself into a corner and then proceeds to try and talk their way out of the corner, which only makes them look all the more foolish on the screen and, supposedly, all the more funny to people watching in the audience. In other movies there's usually a single character and one or two exchanges that do this well in a one-off moment, but not here. The entire movie is built around such dialogue, sinking the first, and maybe even the second, such character development scenes from funny (Kendrick at least does it well) to obnoxious overdose rather fast. And what's left over is a shell of a movie that can't move beyond its unquenchable thirst for quirk.

The movie's lack of substance -- its failure to take the idea explored in other films in any kind of meaningful direction -- only becomes more apparent the further the movie pushes the quirky envelope. Beyond the couple's efforts to meet in the middle is a string of action scenes that, yup, are built around the old quirky style where there's as much, if not more, talk than there is action. That's not necessarily a bad thing -- chatter can enhance an action scene many times beyond simply, and crudely, exchanging gunfire or punches or whatever -- but neither the verbiage nor the physical action manage to excite. There's no real tension, no real drama, no real story of any bite behind it to make the payoff worthwhile. The people Francis finds himself fighting are developed well enough to identify, but there's no pull, no sense of dread, or reason to really, truly, and deeply despise them. Only RZA's "shotgun" character pulls off any sort of identifiable vibe in both action and the rapport he builds with Francis along the way. The way he manages his scenes -- particularly various, and yes, even quirky reactions to being issued an "Elmer Fudd" shotgun -- are hilarious both contextually and in a vacuum. They sure do beat Kendrick's and Rockwell's various stumbles through desperately written text that far more often than not grates on the nerves rather than lights the screen with charm.

Mr. Right Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mr. Right's 1080p transfer looks nice enough at-a-glance but suffers from issues that become readily evident with any sort of protracted watch. The digital source material is prone to spikes in noise and an overall favoring of flat texturing. Macroblocking creeps into a few scenes -- severely on a couple of occasions -- and aliasing is visible on a building during a city flyover early in the film. Blacks tend to push too bright and too purple. Flesh tones are unnaturally warm. Details often satisfy but never quite to a level of excellence found on the best transfers, be they sourced from film or digital elements. Clothing seems most vulnerable to swings in definition; a sweater can look flat and textureless, while a shirt can reveal fine stitches and wear along the edge of a collar. Faces are likewise a little uneven. Pores and other features are never lifelike, but basic definition can give way to an unnaturally smooth look. Colors are rather punchy and vibrant. The palette is varied and oftentimes intense, resulting in the transfer's single-best and most compelling visual feature. Still, it's not enough to keep the image from hovering just above mediocrity. Much can likely be attributed to the source, but regardless of the how's or the why's Mr. Right is not a visual showcase for the Blu-ray format.

Mr. Right Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mr. Right's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack scores higher than the video, but it is likewise a couple of steps behind the current standard. Musical delivery satisfies on a baseline level. Definition is favorable, spread across the front is wide, and mild surround details jump in on rare occasions, leaving the presentation heavily favoring the front half of the stage. Action scenes manage a bit more room-stretching intensity. Gunfire, shattering glass, and other bits of shootout mayhem do engage the back channels far more regularly. Action remains dominant up front, but the support structure nicely props up several key scenes. Atmospheric effects engage the rears on several occasions, too, filling in sonic gaps in scenes and locations like outdoor dialogue exchanges and a barroom interior, respectively. On the flip side, a soaking rainfall later in the film remains largely in the care of the front speakers. While the backs chime in for a cursory support, there's no sense of saturation, leaving the middle and back-end portions of the stage sounding empty and unfulfilled. Dialogue delivery never disappoints. Prioritization is excellent and clarity is terrific from a natural front-center positioning.

Mr. Right Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mr. Right contains one supplement. A Sweet Couple (1080p, 1:09) features Anna Kendrick recounting film basics, including plot and characterization. A UV/iTunes digital copy voucher is included with purchase.

Mr. Right Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mr. Right shows a few flashes of potential. The cast is certainly there -- Rockwell, Kendrick, Tim Roth, and RZA are certainly not slouches -- but the script lets them down. Even their considerable acting chops can't save the movie from itself. It's just too much. Anytime a scene, never mind an entire movie, feels like it's trying too hard to be funny and hip, there's no saving it. A few moments escape and feel organically humorous, but generally speaking it's all so forced that it would take a Jedi to save it. Universal's Blu-ray release of Mr. Right features passable but problematic video, a fair but hardly enticing lossless soundtrack, and one minute-long extra. Rent it.