6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Chronicles the summer 1989 afternoon when the future President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady on an epic first date across Chicago's South Side.
Starring: Tika Sumpter, Parker Sawyers, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Deborah Geffner, Jerod HaynesBiography | 100% |
Period | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Everyone probably has their own definition of what constitutes a date movie. My wife, for example, prefers rom-coms, and attempts to rope me into viewing them with her any chance she can get. Some guys I know, especially when they were younger and more prone to be on the prowl, used to swear by taking girls to the scariest movies available, because the women could (if the strategy worked, that is) get frightened and want a little physical contact to feel safe. But Southside With You takes the concept of “date movie” to a whole different level, since it’s a movie about a date. While it’s not really a rom-com by any stretch, Southside With You will probably be more favored by those with my wife’s tastes than for those who go for a bit more extreme entertainment for outings with significant others. The film charts the first date between Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) and Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter, who also co-produced), and plays out more or less in real time over the course of a Chicago evening where the nascent couple enjoys a series of activities before their fateful first kiss. There’s nothing overly revelatory about this film, but it’s really striking in a way, offering a treatment of relatively recent historical events in the life of a couple still ensconced in the White House as this Blu-ray comes to market, something that in and of itself is at least a little unusual.
Southside With You is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Once again the IMDb offers no data on this shoot, but I found a Panavision site which credits the Arri Alexa as the camera utilized. This is a kind of interesting presentation, since some scenes have been tinkered with to give what I assume is supposed to be a digital recreation of grain, but which makes the imagery appear textured at times, almost as if it had been printed on cardstock. At other times, the imagery is completely free of this technique, offering nice sharpness and excellent detail levels. That said, there is still a diffused and at times gauzy appearance to several scenes which I assume was intentional, especially since this is often achieved by aiming the camera at effulgent light sources. That said, this tendency on a couple of occasions almost approaches looking out of focus. Occasional compression problems enter the fray in some darker moments (see screenshot 15).
Southside With You's 1989 timeframe offers the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track to strut its stuff in a variety of era source cues (including a song by producer John Legend). The track also is nicely open and spacious feeling in some of the outdoor moments, notably the park scene, and an outdoor stroll with ice cream that caps the film. Otherwise, the film is often built out of up close and personal dialogue between Barack and Michelle. Fidelity is fine on this problem free track.
- African Dance (1080p; 4:12)
- Art (1080p; 3:22)
- Dance (1080p; 1:11)
- Pie (1080p; 2:11)
- Shoes (1080p; 00:42)
- Skyline (1080p; 1:50)
Date movie or movie about a date, Southside With You is a surprisingly smart and effective romance, even if one improbably removes the fact that this is the (future) Obamas we're watching get to know each other. While I wish Sawyers had attempted a more convincing recreation of Obama's unforgettable patois, his take on Obama's cool but (in this case) calculating approach toward Michelle is quite winning. Sumpter delivers a very believable mixture of smarts and softness. Technical merits are generally very good to excellent, and Southside With You comes Recommended.
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