The Whoopee Boys Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

The Whoopee Boys Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 27, 2016

John Byrum's "The Whoopee Boys" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. There are no supplemental features on this release. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

We need a car -- right now!

Here’s a comedy that is so politically incorrect and so happy in its chosen skin that one cannot help but admire it. No, it is not a masterpiece, but in an odd kind of way it really does stick out. Believe it or not, at times it is even genuinely funny.

The not so skillful con artists Jake (Michael O’Keefe, Ironweed, The Great Santini) and Barney (Paul Rodriguez, Born in East L.A.) decide to trade New York City with Palm Beach after they nearly get caught by a couple of ambitious cops. Soon after they arrive in Florida, however, Jake meets Olivia (Lucinda Jenney, Thelma & Louise) and immediately falls in love with her. But it turns out that the girl of his dreams is looking for a different man -- a sophisticated gentleman who would be willing to marry her in the next thirty days and by doing so allow her to inherit a big fortune which will then be used to save her favorite orphanage. Without thinking much, Jake promises Olivia that he can be her savior and then quickly convinces Barney to enroll with him in a private charm school where they will be fully transformed.

But the plan is altered when Jake and Barney meet Colonel Phelps (Denholm Elliott, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), a retired crook with an endless arsenal of tricks. Phelps teaches the two friends how to look and act like real gentlemen and then bent their rules as often as possible. Eventually, Jake meets Olivia’s uncle who must choose between him and a very mean real estate developer (Stephen Davies, The Razor's Edge).

The Whoopee Boys isn’t safe to see with the entire family. There isn’t any truly risky material in it, but by current standards it definitely feels quite vulgar. Then again, it is not any more vulgar than a lot of the original content one can see late at night on HBO and Cinemax.

Rodriguez’s character is given the bulk of the vulgar content and he basically shapes up the film’s identity. But is he funny? It depends on whether one can tolerate his wacky behavior. He has a style of his own, but if one looks long and hard enough one may also recognize the obvious influence the likes of Jim Carrey and a young Cheech Marin have had on it.

O’Keefe is likeable but the romantic element in the story creates some odd vacuum between him and Rodriguez. After they meet Jenney it seems like for a long period of time there are not a lot of good reasons to keep them together. This is where the film suffers the most -- O’Keefe can’t match Rodriguez’s energy and he seems to want to be in a completely different type of comedy.

Elliott is wonderful, but it feels like there is so much more that could have been done with his retired crook. Instead, plenty of attention is given to the very silly sessions in the charm school where other characters with issues are trained to be successful members of society.

Ultimately, there is probably a select group of viewers that will like this film precisely because of its roughness and attitude. And it is not that difficult to figure out why -- there is just something awfully refreshing to see a film that finds humor where most people today can see only excellent material for potential lawsuits.

The Whoopee Boys Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Byrum's The Whoopee Boys arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

The release is sourced from a pre-existing master, but for the most part the film looks quite good in high-definition. Depth ranges from decent to good, with the bulk of the outdoor footage looking quite nice. Clarity is also decent, though there is one segment during the second half (see the big party) where there are some obvious density fluctuations and even light traces of fading (see screencapture #14). Contrast levels are stable. There are no traces of recent color adjustments, but saturation could be better. More importantly, there are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections. This makes a big difference because even though at times the film could have a slightly dated appearance the majority of it has fairly decent organic appearance (see screencapture #1). There are no large damage marks, cuts, debris, stains, or warped frames to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Whoopee Boys Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio has not been recently remastered, but depth, clarity and specially balance are surprisingly good. The music score does not have a prominent role, but a few segments rely on it and fluidity there is quite wonderful. The dialog is stable, clean, and easy to follow. There are no pops, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report.

The Whoopee Boys Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this release.

The Whoopee Boys Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

John Byrum's The Whoopee Boys isn't a masterpiece, but I found its roughness and attitude quite refreshing. During the VHS era you could discover a film like it at your local video store while looking for something completely different and then have a great time watching it with a group of friends. The Whoopee Boys is now out on Blu-ray via Olive Films and looks rather good in high-definition. At the moment, it is also priced right. RECOMMENDED.