The Lookalike Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		1.5

The Lookalike Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 12, 2015

There’s a moment early on in The Lookalike when it seems we’re going to be “treated” to yet another ersatz Quentin Tarantino outing. A couple of low life drug dealers named Bobby and Frank (John Corbett and Steven Bauer) have their eyes on the business of a drug lord named William Spinks (John Savage). To ingratiate themselves with Spinks, they’ve lined up a little call girl action with Sadie (Gillian Jacobs), an opportunist who demands half a million for the job, in part because it turns out Spinks was her father’s business partner. When Frank loses his cool and Sadie ends up on the receiving end of a rather The Phantom of the Opera-esque chandelier, the two decide to punt and try to find a lookalike to present to Spinks, since he hasn’t seen Sadie since she was a little girl.

That decent enough setup is almost immediately buried in an increasingly ludicrous accretion of happenstance, coincidence and just plain silliness. Of course a lookalike named Lacey (Gillian Jacobs) does show up, but in an almost absurdly convenient fashion, tied to the other main plot arc in the film, a dysfunctional sibling relationship between brothers Holt (Justin Long) and Joe Mulligan (Jerry O'Connell). In a plot already overstuffed with detail and seemingly intentionally weird specificity, Joe is a former basketball star who is beginning a romantic relationship with a cancer survivor named Mila (Scottie Thompson) who just so happens to have a prosthetic leg, while in fact it's Holt's new girlfriend who turns out to be Lacey, the lookalike. Somehow this film attracted some decent actors, but they're largely wasted in an overheated yet undercooked thriller that would have played a lot better with some of Tarantino's pitch black humor.

The Lookalike Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Lookalike is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Shot digitally with the Red Epic, The Lookalike is often swathed in the dusky tones of nightclubs or other dim environments, something that tends to keep eye popping fine detail at bay. When the film ventures outside or into more brightly lit environments, the palette perks up considerably, as do both general detail and fine detail. The image is suitably clear and close-ups can be very sharp and well defined. There are some minor instances of banding, most notable in some of the darkest scenes where bright lights suddenly intrude (as in some of the nightclub material).

The Lookalike Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Lookalike's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers good immersion courtesy of several crowded club scenes, while also providing good discrete channelization for ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is fairly wide.

The Lookalike Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes:

  Holt & Lacey (1080p; 00:41)

  Bobby & Joe (1080p; 1:15)

  Detective Garner's Mom (1080p; 00:47)

  Joe & Mila (1080p; 00:46)

• Behind the Scenes (1080p; 14:45)


• Trailer (1080p; 2:19)

Note: As with most Well Go USA releases, the disc has been authored so that supplements follow each other sequentially automatically. After the supplements play, the disc automatically moves on to the previews for other Well Go USA releases.

The Lookalike Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A lot of films manage to coast on serendipity and coincidence, but The Lookalike just pushes things to extremes, while also saddling a good cast with ridiculous dialogue, questionable motivations and ultimately too much need for a massive suspension of disbelief. Technical merits are generally strong for fans of the film considering a purchase.