5.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Seven years ago, a bunch of friends make a bet that'll give the last remaining bachelor a ton of money. Now, after losing a ton of money at a Vegas Casino, Michael Delaney has to quickly get his friend Kyle married so that he can collect the prize money to pay back his debt.
Starring: Jerry O'Connell, Shannon Elizabeth, Jake Busey, Horatio Sanz, Jaime PresslyComedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
I consciously avoided Tomcats when it came out in 2001, but in a cruel twist of cosmic karma I was assigned to watch it for this review of the
film’s 10th anniversary Blu-ray release. I say cruel twist because sitting through Tomcats—a repulsive supposed rom-com constructed
entirely of non-remorseful misogyny and disgusting and/or tired gags—is the kind of grating, unpleasant, and possibly torturous experience that I
wouldn’t wish on the most heinous members of the Taliban. It’s an unalienable human right—people, all people, deserve better movies than this. I’m
actually surprised that anyone thought Tomcats merited a re-release on home video. Memory of these sorts of crass, extremely dated me-too
comedies is usually limited to the dank recesses of IMDB.com’s forums.
Few people want to remember a film like this, so let me jog your memory if you’ve forgotten. Following the success of the Farrelly brothers’
Something About Mary, in 1998, there was a burst of gross-out rom-com sex farces like Say It Isn’t So and American Pie,
each hoping to one-up the last. Tomcats, another wannabe contender, certainly goes for broke in the eww department, but far more
offensive is the way the film continually portrays women as idiots and whores, sex objects more disposable than blow-up dolls.
Tomcats on Blu-ray delivers exactly what you'd expect from the picture quality of a low-budget comedy from the early '00s—a 1080p/AVC- encoded transfer that's watchable but hardly impressive. While I'm sure there's a definite difference between the Blu-ray and the older DVD version of the film, the change probably isn't drastic enough to warrant an upgrade. Although clarity gets a slight boost overall, the image is consistently soft, lacking truly fine detail in all but the tightest close-ups. Facial and clothing textures just aren't very refined. There are even a few shots that look outright blurry. Likewise, color reproduction is merely adequate. Skin tones can look a bit oversaturated and ruddy from time to time, and the overall palette is dull. Still, contrast is okay and black levels are as deep as they need to be. As far as I can tell, the image hasn't been manipulated digitally in any way—there's no sign of DNR, edge enhancement, or excess boosting—and aside from some noise there really aren't any compression quibbles worth noting. Your jaw will never drop watching Tomcats, but your eyes won't get sore from artifacts or other distractions either.
The film's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track also lives up to expectations for low-budget comedy. This isn't a bad mix, but it is a little brash at times. There's a lot of terrible music in the film—from grating pop punk to Mystikal's "Shake Ya Ass"—but it all sounds okay, with decent dynamics and good use of all 5.1 channels. The rear speakers are otherwise occupied with quiet ambience—locker room shower spray, casino clamor, etc. —and occasional effects, like gunshots, but nothing particularly immersive or active. The focus here is on the dialogue, which—aside from a few scenes where voices are a hair low in the mix—usually sounds clean, balanced, and easy to understand. The disc includes optional English SDH subtitles.
There are no bonus features whatsoever on the disc.
Rude, crude, lewd, and impossibly misogynistic, Tomcats tried to capitalize on the gross-out comedy phase of the early 00's but came across like more of a wannabe, me-too production. I'm not sure why the film is being trotted out for a Blu-ray release—it deserves to be forgotten—but anyway, here it is, with a so-so high definition image, a decent lossless audio track, and no extras whatsoever. If you're a fan, wait around for a few months and I'm sure you'll be able to score this one at a bargain-basement price.
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