6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
Growing up together, Mitch and Dave were inseparable best friends, but as the years have passed they've slowly drifted apart. While Dave is an overworked lawyer, husband and father of three, Mitch has remained a single, quasi-employed man-child who has never met a responsibility he liked. To Mitch, Dave has it all: beautiful wife Jamie, kids who adore him and a high-paying job at a prestigious law...
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde, Alan ArkinComedy | 100% |
Romance | 30% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
English, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy (on disc)
DVD copy
BD-Live
D-Box
Mobile features
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Ryan Reynolds needs a new agent. He may be a hot Hollywood property, but Reynolds isn't exactly holding up his end of the A-list deal. With X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Green Lantern and now The Change-Up, the once-promising actor of all seasons has gone a bit belly up, grinning and bearing his way through some of the bigger misfires in recent memory. If it weren't for taut one-man-thriller Buried, I might be tempted to write off the wise-cracking star and abandon all hope that Deadpool will be everything it should be, and then some. But I digress. The Change-Up represents everything Reynolds doesn't need to be doing right now: feeding at the body-switcheroo trough, chowing down on rancid dialogue, wallowing in genre sludge, and sloshing his way through one of the worst comedies of the year. Even Jason Bateman, who deserves some of the A-list status Reynolds is currently hogging, is slumming it this time around, cashing in and cashing out on a film he clearly doesn't believe in. (And no, that isn't a cheap shot in the dark. His interview on The Daily Show was very... telling.) With Reynolds and Bateman in a 108-minute free for all, what's a grossout-gag junkie left to do? Find a smarter, funnier R-rated comedy, that's what.
"If she comes at me like a hurricane, a guy can only stand so much..."
The Change-Up excels on Blu-ray, though, thanks to a strong, at-times striking 1080p/VC-1 encoded video transfer. Skintones are a bit oversaturated on occasion, but any criticism I might indulge ends there. Eric Alan Edwards' spunky late summer palette is warm and playful, black levels are deep and untainted, and contrast is natural and consistent. And detail? No complaints here. Edge definition is clean and refined (with little to no ringing), fine textures are well-resolved, and delineation is quite revealing. There isn't really any substantial grain to speak of, but you also won't encounter the kind of hyper-sharpened artificiality that leaves many a presentation looking over-polished and over-processed. There is some softness to contend with, granted, but only of the filmic variety. Best of all, significant artifacting, banding, noise, smearing and other nonsense are held at bay, making this yet another precise and proficient recent theatrical presentation from Universal. (Say what you will about the studio's catalog titles. Whatever you come up with probably can't be said about its newer releases.) All in all, The Change-Up's Blu-ray debut should satisfy anyone and everyone, regardless of how they feel about the film itself.
The same could be said of The Change-Up's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, even if it doesn't break the R-rated comedy mold. Much of the soundscape rests near the center channel, as dialogue-driven comedies tend to do, but voices are clear and intelligible, grossout splats and spurts are suitably splatty and spurty, directional effects bring with them a welcome sense of movement, and low-end support -- limited as it is amidst all of Mitch and Dave's bantering and bickering -- doesn't disappoint. The rear speakers are a bit restrained as well, albeit at the behest of the film's original sound design. Not that anyone should be concerned. When the chatting ceases and chaos erupts in the middle of the night (babies do love their cutlery), the lossless mix flexes some muscle and teases its dynamic prowess with enough punch and power to keep things interesting. Dobkin detractors may shrug their shoulders in the end, but fans of the film will be pleased.
No need to rehash or open not-so-old wounds. I didn't like The Change-Up -- at all -- but you know the drill: you might think it's hilarious. Comedy is arguably more subjective than any other genre, so if you have any love at all for Bateman or Reynolds, a rental is probably in order. Thankfully, the Blu-ray edition isn't going to split audiences or divide the masses. With an excellent video transfer, a faithful DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track and a small but solid smattering of supplements, fans of the film will certainly get their money's worth.
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