Please Baby Please Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Please Baby Please Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 27, 2023

Please Baby Please has style in droves, which may be both the best and worst things about it, sometimes simultaneously. Playing somewhat like a more gender fluid version of the inimitable West Side Story (and/or West Side Story), but frankly without the musical and lyrical genius that Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim contributed to that particular musical, Please Baby Please is one of the most visually audacious films in recent memory, but that very flair perhaps tends to point out some underlying flaws in storytelling and I'd argue especially in the score. The film may have some built in cult appeal due to a cameo appearance by Demi Moore.

In a kind of whimsical quasi-Manhattan setting that is probably a bit more artificial than even that in the Bernstein-Sondheim opus, a young married couple named Arthur (Harry Melling) and Suze (Andrea Riseborough) encounter a semi-tough gang known as the Young Gents, who are seen, in true musical comedy fashion, pummeling some poor victims to death (that's hopefully obviously a joke). In fact, it may be this horrifying opening vignette that instantly sets this "musical" apart, and perhaps not in a good way, especially considering some of the more at least relatively whimsical if no less provocative material that ensues.

There's less of a plot here than an almost hallucinogenic assault on the senses, as Arthur and Suze contend with the gang, and Suze engages in some patently bizarre fantasies involving a neighbor named Maureen (Demi Moore). The music, credited to Giulio Carmassi and Bryan Scary, is occasionally diagetic, but is always outré, and struck me as kind of aiming toward Brechtian territory by way of the same sort of rock pastiche that suffused The Rocky Horror Picture Show , if that's an actual subgenre, though this score tends to dabble more in supposedly cool jazz sensibilities. One way or the other, the score just never connected with me, and the choreography, while as psychedelically infused as everything else in this entry, is probably not going to give Jerome Robbins' ghost anything to worry about.

The entire enterprise seems to be flirting deliberately with camp, and in that regard Andrea Riseborough's performance may need to be seen to be believed (and maybe not even then). Suffice it to say that as hallucinogenic as this film is generally, some may get a contact high merely from watching Riseborough slither through her performance.

Please Baby Please Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Please Baby Please is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This is an unabashedly stunning looking feature from the get go, one drenched in almost John Wick-ian levels of purple and teal, along with any number of other lighting and/or grading choices that can bring a downright hallucinogenic flavor to things. "Simple" things like a trip to the laundry room can erupt into phantasmagorical song and dance routines, often lit in lurid blues and reds. Other interior moments have a definite yellow cast to them. What's kind of remarkable is that despite all of this slathering of hues, detail levels remain remarkably intact throughout the presentation.

Please Baby Please Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Please Baby Please features nicely rendered DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options. The surround track noticeably opens up the soundstage for both the musical interludes as well as at least a few ambient environmental effects, though those tend to be most noticeable in quasi-club sequences as opposed to some of the apartment set material. Fidelity is excellent throughout, and all dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

Please Baby Please Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Feature Audio Commentary by director Amanda Kramer, Matt D'Elia, Alisa Torres.


• Alamo Drafthouse PSA (HD; 1:01)


• Cast and Crew Q&A from LA Premiere (HD; 41:24) is from October 2022 features Amanda Kramer, Ryan Simpkins, Alisa Torres, Matt D'Elia, Benjamin Shearn, Patrick Meade Jones and Bette Adams.


• Deleted Scenes and Outtakes (HD; 9:24)


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:38)


• Character Teasers (HD; 3:53)


• Original Moodboard Gallery (HD)


• Arthur and Suze: A Visual Essay (HD; 7:09) features Chris O'Neill.


• Amanda Kramer Short Films

  Requests (HD; 6:03)

  
  

  Sin Ultra (HD; 8:28)

  
  Note: There is a Play All option for the above pair of shorts.

• Isolated Music Score and Sound Design is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and is accessible under the Setup Menu.

Additionally, packaging for the retailer exclusive features a rather striking white slipcover.

Please Baby Please Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Regular readers of my reviews may know I make part of my living as a musician and I frequently music direct stage musicals, and so I think I have an above average appreciation for both theatrical craft and songcraft in the general musical theater genre. I'd argue that Please Baby Please is aces in the first category in terms of visual presentational flair and even the tenor (no musical pun intended) of some of the performances, but (for me, anyway) lacking in the second category. That said, it may in fact be unfair to even think of this film as a "traditional" musical, and so perhaps it shouldn't be judged by the same metric. But that then raises the question as to why even include "song and dance" to begin with. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very enjoyable for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.