Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		1.5

Some Kind of Beautiful Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 3, 2015

Don’t happy endings have to be earned in order to have some emotional resonance? It’s not all that much of a spoiler to reveal that Some Kind of Beautiful does in fact wrap things up on the positive side of the ledger, and the reason that that is not that much of a spoiler is that there’s absolutely no question as to where this film is going from virtually the first moment. An almost unbelievably rote and by the numbers screenplay ticks off its plot points like a waiter detailing the day’s menu, but unfortunately there’s very little flavor on hand at this particular establishment. Richard Haig (Pierce Brosnan, also one of the many producers on the film) is an English Literature professor who specializes in the Romantic Era. He’s also a philandering lout, one who doesn’t shirk from bedding as many co-eds as he possibly can. One of those partners is a spunky, intelligent and seemingly totally together young woman named Kate (Jessica Alba), and when an unplanned pregnancy enters the fray, it seems that perhaps Richard’s philandering days may finally be at an end.

Some Kind of Beautiful begins with an extreme close-up on Brosnan as Richard delivering one of those “it’s not you, it’s me” speeches which is obviously meant to give the impression that Richard is breaking up with some nubile young female. Instead, it turns out Richard is actually talking to his adorable young son Jake (Duncan Joiner). Richard is confessing to his son that he’s, well, “f***ed up” (as he actually puts it to the tyke), and he wants to set things right. That sets the film out on its protracted flashback which helps to detail what got the characters to this supposed tipping point.

Kate’s unexpected pregnancy seems to motivate Richard to take at least a few halting steps toward respectability, even if he has a momentary detour or two with his ever wandering eye, including one awkward interchange with a stunning woman at a bar named Olivia (Salma Hayek), who just so happens to turn out to be Kate’s sister. That peccadillo aside, Kate and Richard end up together in Los Angeles, where Richard has to make do at a learning establishment decidedly less tony than his Cambridge digs back in the United Kingdom. Still, he seems to be a natural born father (so to speak), and the blandishments of parenthood perhaps take some of the sting out of the incipient conformity he suddenly finds himself experiencing.

What’s sauce for the goose turns out to be sauce for the gander once it’s revealed that Kate has been doing some dallying of her own with a kind of quasi-surfer dude named Brian (Ben McKenzie). Kate wants to build a relationship with the younger man, and Richard finds himself consigned to a pool house, though in the meantime Olivia has shown up and she and Richard suddenly discover they’re developing feelings for each other.

That sets up a cartwheeling array of supposedly hilarious hijinks, where the relationship between Richard and Olivia strains relations with Kate (between both her “baby daddy” and her sister), while Richard’s devolving emotional status leads to a number of unfortunate events, culminating in an arrest for DUI. The performers all devote a lot of energy to their roles, but the result comes off as merely manic rather than truly farcical. A colorful supporting cast, which includes Malcolm McDowell as Richard’s gallivanting father, is largely wasted due to completely inartful writing.

There’s an unintentionally meaningful display late in Some Kind of Beautiful which probably more adequately describes the film’s shortcomings better than this particular reviewer can. In a scene which is almost unbelievably awful despite being cloaked in equally incredible amounts of supposed “cuteness factor”, Richard, his dad and little Jake jump up on a bench at the end of a picturesque California pier and all pee together into the ocean in what is evidently supposed to be a moment of male bonding. There’s an old adage about peeing into the wind which will no doubt occur to many viewers, and the sad fact is that Some Kind of Beautiful serves as the cinematic equivalent to what happens to those who venture into just such an activity.

Some Kind of Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Some Kind of Beautiful is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Shot digitally with the Arri Alexa XT, Some Kind of Beautiful sports a nicely a sharp and well detailed image, one that perks up considerably once the film leaves the rainy climes of Britain for the bright sunshine of California, with some kind of candy colored production design choices in evidence. (The film was perhaps surprisingly lensed by David Tattersall, who was the cinematographer for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and The Green Mile.) Some of the beachside scenes in the film boast considerable depth of field and nicely sumptuous blues. A few scenes have been relatively modestly color graded, included a kind of quasi-sepia toned flashback sequence detailing the exploits of Richard's father (see screenshot 6). Detail is generally very commendable throughout the presentation, though some dimly lit interior scenes suffer from haziness. There are no issues with image instability.

Some Kind of Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Some Kind of Beautiful features a workmanlike DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, one which supports the film's rather unambitious sound design. The bulk of the film plays out in relatively undemanding dialogue scenes, though there are occasional ambient environmental elements added to the mix which give the film a semblance of immersion. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range has a few spikes of energy courtesy of some of the more manic moments that begin accruing in the film's second half.

Some Kind of Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Inside the Heart of a Romantic (1080p; 6:11) is standard issue EPK fare.

Some Kind of Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some Kind of Beautiful wastes a game and energetic cast in a story that is relentlessly predictable and, even worse, hardly ever funny. You can virtually see the sweat beads breaking out on Brosnan's face as he struggles mightily to wring some humor out of a clumsy screenplay. At least Alba and Hayek get to strut around with few clothes on, something that may help to distract some viewers from the risible lines they're forced to emote their way through. Technical merits are generally very strong for those considering a purchase.