Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Mr. Wrong Blu-ray Movie Review

The right thing to do is to skip 'Mr. Wrong.'

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 28, 2012

Life is a synchronicity of chance.

The lame Action movie with the washed-up lead and the bland Romantic Comedy with the recycled plot might represent the two most unoriginal and overexposed genres in modern film. The latter in particular aims only to pull in the same audience time and again, often with the same faces on the poster, to sell a similar bill of goods to audiences who have seen it all before but who, for whatever reason, continue to support a genre that's largely run dry of fresh ideas. Mr. Wrong attempts to breathe some new life into a style that's on life support, but fails to revive the RomCom. Instead, the movie's somewhat novel idea -- he's crazy, she can't escape him -- is met with a poor script, uninspired acting, zero rhythm, and almost no genuine humor. It's a disaster of a movie that makes even the most generic films of its kind appear impressive in comparison.

Happily never after.

Martha Alston (Ellen DeGeneres) is a thirty-something single woman who works behind-the-scenes at a successful San Diego morning show. She's lonely, but she's not quite ready to jump into the arms of the wrong man, happy to wait instead for Mr. Right to come into her life, whenever that may be. But the pressure mounts when her sister, six years her junior, gets married. Martha finds herself wading through a string of bad dates, wrong choices, and loser guys. When she's all but given up hope, she has a chance encounter with Whitman Crawford (Bill Pullman), a real looker and smooth talker who seems like the man of her dreams. He's kind, sweet, romantic, handsome, and her family and friends think he's the "the one." So does she, until Whitman suddenly...changes. She calls the relationship off when Whitman's behavior takes a turn for the bizarre and she finds his mother absolutely unpalatable. But Whitman doesn't take Martha's "no" for an answer. He sends her a deluge of gifts and manipulates her life to get her just where he wants her: in a wedding dress and by his side before a preacher. Can Martha find a way out of this mess, or will she have to settle for her Mr. Wrong?

Haven't audiences seen this movie before, or at least a reasonable duplicate thereof? This is the most generic of Romantic Comedies, the movie featuring a lonely lady looking for her perfect man. She finds a man, but it turns out he's the wrong man. But is he the only man or even the right man after all? It seems everyone but the main character can see he's Mr. Right, so does Martha's persistence make her blind to the facts or does that make Whitman's sell job the con of the century? Unfortunately, Mr. Wrong never really digs all that deeply into the truth. Whitman's character is painfully under-explored to the point that there's no sufficient reason given for his oddities, his unflinching and relentless pursuit of a woman who obviously wants nothing to do with him. Why is Inga (Joan Cusack) so bent on ending the Whitman-Martha relationship when she has a new man of her own, never mind that she's so blinded by whatever has blinded her that she can't see that Martha genuinely wants nothing to do with Whitman? The movie is a mess of people and scenarios, none of which make much sense, all of them seemingly just thrown into the mix to advance a plot, not tell a complete story.

Not only does Mr. Wrong fail to tell a cohesive story -- a story that's more than a bunch of ideas plopped into a movie with no real cohesion or purpose or character history or with any answer to the question of "why?" -- it also fails to find much of a funny bone. Director Nick Castle's (Major Payne, The Last Starfighter) Mr. Wrong aims for a playful, light tone that's never achieved except through sheer force of the insertion of Romantic Comedy music and overused situations into the film. The picture begins and ends with goofy cliché: the "start at the end and flash backwards" thing and a poor attempt to literally "ride into the sunset" (but they're going the wrong direction because the sun sets in the west and they need to go north! haha!). Supposedly it should be funny to watch the movie with the end -- that she'll end up in a Mexican prison while wearing her wedding dress -- in mind, but the rest of the picture is such a drag that she might as well have been abducted by aliens and taken to Neptune for all the movie accomplishes before getting back around to its starting spot. The performances are lifeless -- the entire thing falls flat, for that matter -- and there's no chemistry between Pullman and DeGeneres; even their whirlwind romance before she learns "the truth" (whatever that may be) about her man seems generic and distant, doing everything from the seaside pause under the moonlight to the lovemaking session in front of the fireplace. Nick Cannon's direction suffices, and the movie is never a true sloth of an experience, but otherwise the entire thing is one big unsatisfying experience that's best enjoyed skipped and forgotten.

Mr. Wrong Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Most viewers should find Mr. Wrong's Blu-ray transfer to be adequate. Though visually underwhelming, the image is generally technically proficient. Detail suffices, usually revealing fair skin and clothing textures. However, there are no eye-catching natural textures, just the basics. The image occasionally appears a bit soft and pasty and bland. Light grain is retained, but the image never makes for a striking film-like transfer. Colors satisfy, appearing nicely balanced and only a touch dull and uneven. Bright red flowers, yellow ribbons, and natural greenery all appear true to life. Blacks never waver too far from accurate, only looking a little too dark or washed out in a couple of shots, though darker backgrounds are often slathered in noise. Flesh tones, likewise, rarely stray from a natural tint. A few edge halos are evident, but the transfer is largely free of wear and tear, banding, or other unwanted visual nasties. All in all, this is a solid image that's quite good considering Mill Creek's history and asking price.

Mr. Wrong Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mr. Wrong's DTS-HD MA 2.0 lossless soundtrack supports the movie's limited sonic activity nicely. Music adequately spreads across the front, playing with surprisingly good clarity and accuracy through the entire range. Whether prominent score, such as that heard at the "sacrifice" scene late in the movie, or the light background music at a wedding heard at the beginning, the track handles all musical elements with precision. Light background elements, such as applause heard on the set of the morning show, makes for a sufficient recreation of the place and moment. A few sound effects come across as slightly muffled, such as the ruffling of sheets during Whitman and Martha's first romantic interlude, but most general effects play adequately and crisply. Dialogue is focused up the middle and always clear, never lost under any surrounding musical elements or sound effects. This is a solid presentation that serves this particular movie well.

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

This Blu-ray release of Mr. Wrong contains no special features, not even the film's trailer.

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

Mr. Wrong is an unfunny, badly-paced, and poorly-conceived Comedy that's a little different from the RomCom norm but that nevertheless falters at every turn. The cast is good but the performances are flat, though largely a product of a script that comes up short with every new moment, each new twist, every windy turn. Even Romantic Comedy veterans might find this loser to be one of the lesser movies of its kind around. Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of Mr. Wrong features no supplements, but the video and audio presentations satisfy. For the low asking price and considering the quality of the video and audio presentations, fans should at least consider a purchase.