5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The head of a high school reunion committee travels to Los Angeles to track down the most popular guy from his graduating class and convince him to go to the reunion.
Starring: Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, Russell PosnerComedy | 100% |
Dark humor | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The D Train is a workmanlike Dramedy that doesn't bring much to the table in terms of narrative novelty. It's a creatively void picture and, perhaps worse, one that lacks direction and focus. The picture gets by on cast chemistry almost exclusively as it repurposes gags and pushes through the usual ebb and flow that sees high comedy evolve into heavy drama that doesn't pay off in any meaningful way beyond a tidy clean-up with a generic bit of human interest insight. A few choice moments and a strong cast save the movie from falling off the edge, but this is, on the whole, a run-of-the-mill entertainer without lofty aspirations and absent a strong foundation on which to build anything more than a watch-and-forget clunker without much appeal beyond the draw of the Black/Marsden pairing.
You. Me. Reunion. Say yes!
The D Train's 1080p transfer doesn't dazzle, but it appears to be technically proficient. The movie features a fairly bland, flat, and dull appearance, favoring a warm and diffuse look that brings a somewhat soft texturing with it. Details are proficient if not impressive, with broad stroke elements like clothes and faces revealing a fair bit intricate and intimate textures such as seams, stitches, pores, and stubble. The broader canvas' softer strokes don't leave backgrounds the epitome of crisp, but in general basic accents around homes, offices, restaurants, bars, and other locations are fine. Colors are influenced by the pervasive warmth that dominates much of the movie, but primaries -- particularly in brighter scenes -- are suitably vibrant. Black levels raise no alarms, and flesh tones appear neutral outside of the greater warmer push in places. The transfer suffers from no major instances of noise, banding, or macroblocking. It's not a stunner, but it gets the job done.
The D Train pulls onto Blu-ray with a technically sound but aurally basic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation yields satisfying music that offers good front end spacing, an occasional surround push, solid clarity, and a decently weighted low end. Atmospherics are nicely implemented, including casual backgrounds inside an airplane, a restaurant, and a bar, all of which prove satisfyingly immersive. The track doesn't feature all that many prominent effects outside of a jet engine that whizzes through the stage. The film is mostly a dialogue intensive one. The spoken word comes through with efficient clarity and natural front-center placement. Light reverberation is evident in a few choice spots.
The D Train contains only a gag reel (1080p, 3:38) and deleted scenes (1080p), including I'm Home (0:25), In the Bedroom (0:24), Fatherly Advice (0:44), Getting Ready (0:38), Cancelled Plans (1:48), Girlfriend (0:18), Dan at the Reunion (1:23), and Nosey Neighbors (1:20). Inside the Blu-ray case, buyers will also find a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy of the film.
The D Train shows flashes of promise -- how can it not with its impressive collection of stars -- but it's stymied by an unfocused narrative that never quite gets to any real, deep core ideas, despite the movie's efforts to the contrary. It aspires to dark humor and insightful characterization but winds up as an oddly concocted brew that's something altogether different, a film that's neither as funny as it should be nor as dramatically nuanced as it needs to be. Choosing one direction over the other might have worked wonders, but the combination is, sadly, a toxic one for a film that lacks the identity necessary to piece it all together. Several other films have done the "class reunion" Comedy angle far, far better, including Grosse Pointe Blank and Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion. Paramount's Blu-ray release of The D-Train features good video and audio. Supplements are on the skimpy side. Rent it.
2015
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2010
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