Seriously Red Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Seriously Red Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 22, 2023

Krew Boylan is an Australian actress with an unusual name, but one which still probably hasn't penetrated the consciousnesses of many folks outside of her native country. Most of Boylan's renown has come courtesy of television appearances, though she did star in a movie called Primal (probably not the one you're thinking of) in 2010. Boylan may have felt she had to tools to surmount this relative lack of audience awareness by writing a film herself, with a juicy lead role to boot (and/or bust, as the case may be), and Seriously Red is the result. This is a film that tries very hard to be charmingly quirky, and it succeeds in dribs and drabs, but it probably never quite finds the right balance between some of its more whimsical and/or raucous activities and a somewhat darker subtext about going to extremes to escape self imposed ideas about identity. Boylan portrays Red, a woman who has come to her name courtesy of her bright shock of hair, and who has been toiling unhappily in a real estate business while using some of her free time to pursue her dream of becoming a Dolly Parton impersonator. There is definitely some interest here courtesy of a story focused on an actual group of celebrity impersonators, both cross dressed and otherwise, something that may kinda sorta remind some viewers of properties like To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, or perhaps more saliently given the Australia connection, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, but what is both interesting if ultimately frustrating about Seriously Red is that it is indeed serious at times, but then tends to just go more cartoonish, something that probably undercuts both the comedy and the drama.

Seriously Red may attract some passing interest courtesy of some fun casting in supporting roles, including Rose Byrne as an Elvis impersonator and Bobby Cannavale as the manager of a group of celebrity impersonators who himself dabbled in "doing" Neil Diamond. The "family" here is dysfunctional (there's some simmering rivalry between "Dolly" and "Elvis"), but the film kind of goes overtly "meta" when Red is paired with a Kenny Rogers impersonator (Daniel Webber), who is perhaps even more committed in a Method sense to his alter ego than even Red is vis a vis her obsession with Dolly.

This is a bright, candy colored entertainment that can spring to considerable life when it exploits the musical elements, and which has an unabashed emotional element as well. It may simply be a case of a film trying too hard at times, especially when the tone can veer so widely from raucous near crudities to a more saccharine, overtly emotionally manipulative, approach.

Note: Brian Orndorf had about the same reaction to Simply Red that I did when he reviewed its theatrical exhibition. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Seriously Red Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Seriously Red is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. I haven't been able to find any authoritative technical information on the shoot, and as of the writing of this review the IMDb doesn't have much to offer, but this is a nice looking digital capture that I'm assuming had a 2K DI. The best thing about this presentation is arguably is amazingly vivid palette, which pops with both really bold primaries but also some very appealing interstitial tones that are frequently in the pastel range, and which add a lot of visual interest to the proceedings. Detail levels are generally excellent throughout, perhaps faltering just a bit in some of the dimly lit performance venues. This is another Lionsgate release where the studio's masthead has noticeable enough banding that it even showed up with our screencapture unit (something that doesn't always happen), but where I noticed no real problems with the actual feature presentation.

Seriously Red Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Seriously Red features a fun and at times very exuberant DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that offers secure rendering of a source cue littered score that of course has a ton of Parton material, but also exploits some of the other impersonator's discographies. A glut of scenes in performance venues also offers good opportunities for engagement of the side and rear channels with crowd noises. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Seriously Red Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Gracie Otto

Additionally, a digital copy is included and packaging features a slipcover.

Seriously Red Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I think Seriously Red might have resonated more had it decided to either go full gonzo with its depiction of celebrity impersonators, or tried to delve more deeply into some of the issues that some of the folks doing the impersonating seem to have. Instead, this is a rather odd casserole with some interesting ingredients which perhaps don't meld together consistently. Performances and production design are both well handled, and fans of the cast may find this worth checking out, and for those folks the good news is technical merits on this Blu-ray are solid.