Sisters & Brothers Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Sisters & Brothers Blu-ray Movie Review

Full house.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 10, 2013

Sisters & Brothers, the companion film to Director/Writer/Producer/Cinematographer Carl Bessai's Mothers & Daughters and Fathers & Sons, tells the stories of a mishmash of characters and how they relate to their siblings within a snapshot point in time. Justin (Cory Monteith), a twenty-something celebrity who's hot with the teenage girl audience, clashes with his brother Rory (Dustin Milligan) over his lifestyle. Schizophrenic Jerry (Benjamin Ratner) finds himself in trouble. His sister Louise (Gabrielle Miller) wants to help him and see him happy. Nikki (Amanda Crew) is an aspiring actress who is targeted for the lead role in an upcoming Science Fiction program by a Producer named Henry (Tom Scholte), but their dealings are complicated by the relationship that develops between Henry and Nikki's half-sister Maggie (Camille Sullivan). Finally, teenager Sarah's (Kacey Rohl) life takes an unexpected turn for the worse when her mother Marion (Gabrielle Rose) reunites with her long-lost daughter of Indian descent, Sita (Leena Manro).

I'm home.

Imagine a movie that tries its hardest not to come off as pretentious but instead loses all purpose along the way and still comes across like it's trying to be the coolest kid in school. Imagine a movie that wants to be the next hipster, offbeat, "real life" Comedy and just tries too hard, sputtering rather than flowing from scene to scene. Sisters & Brothers is all of that, a movie of good intentions but one that's simply too scattered and hollow when it's all said and done. It lacks a strong narrative substance, instead ambling between four different sets of characters that travel along fairly predictable arcs and thereby lose the opportunity for a more solid cohesion. There's not enough time to spend with any of them, to really get to the meat of who they are and what their relationships really mean, leaving the film to flounder on its way to wrapping up a collection of grossly superficial stories. It's not awful, though. It's satisfying in bursts and the cast is rather strong and most provide natural, enjoyable performances. It's too bad none of them are given the opportunity to further explore what might have been a stronger inner journey rather than a fully superficial experience.

Sisters & Brothers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sisters & Brothers features a shaky high definition transfer. Though it oftentimes looks rather sharp, well detailed, and nicely colored, there are plenty of instances that show severe compression issues, to the point that the movie often looks like a low quality streaming YouTube video. Occasional shimmering is also a problem. Character interview shots do show a great bit of color and detail in the form of skin textures and makeup.

Sisters & Brothers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sisters & Brothers arrives on Blu-ray with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. There's a good bit of surround information, including interviewer questions that flow from the rear. Music enjoys sufficient presence, spacing, and clarity. Light ambience in the airport and at other locations satisfies environmental needs. Chaotic din heard near the beginning when Justin is swarmed by fans sounds rather undefined and garbled. Dialogue, other than that interviewer, comes through clearly from the center.

Sisters & Brothers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sisters & Brothers contains no supplemental content.

Sisters & Brothers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sisters & Brothers isn't so much wasted opportunity as it is missed potential. The movie as it is delivers a piecemeal, but mostly appetizing, buffet of off-the-cuff character skits. They're all sufficiently interesting to merit further exploration, but time constraints and a rather haphazard assemblage of pieces leaves them feeling much more scattered than they deserve. Anchor Bay's featureless Blu-ray release of Sisters & Brothers delivers acceptable video and audio. Rent it.