Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

What's the Worst That Could Happen? Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 8, 2016

Sam Weisman's "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" (2001) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; archival featurette with cast and crew interviews; and original music video. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Caught

The cast is rather impressive but it is difficult to imagine Sam Weisman directing a more disappointing film. Considering the end result the title of this film, What’s the Worst That Could Happen?, is rather odd as well.

Veteran thief Kevin Caffery (Martin Lawrence) breaks into the luxurious villa of cocky millionaire Max Fairbanks (Danny DeVito) but immediately gets caught. Before the police take him away, Max steals from him a beautiful ring, a gift from his new girlfriend (Carmen Ejogo).

But Kevin escapes and immediately declares war on Max. A few days later, assisted by his good friend Berger (John Leguizamo) he robs Max again and this time threatens to tell his rich wife (Nora Dunn) about his secret affairs if he does not return his ring. Much to his surprise, Max vows to further humiliate him and teach him a lesson he won’t forget.

Viewing this film could be a strange experience. At times it literally feels as if one is participating in an odd experiment in which one’s tolerance for nonsense is quietly studied by a team of invisible Hollywood researchers. The ‘twists’ and ‘jokes’ truly can be that bad.

The idea was probably to have DeVito and Lawrence lead with plenty of great improvisations and then have the rest of the cast fill in the blanks, but the desired brilliance and chemistry are missing. DeVito has a few good one-liners when he is with the Playboy model and a couple of decent but very short exchanges with Lawrence, but he struggles immensely throughout the film and it really shows. Lawrence is even more disappointing. His thief is yet another replica of the same character he has played since Bad Boys and tuned up in the likes of Nothing to Lose and Blue Streak and this time he is quite simply annoying. The sequence in which he and Leguizamo pretend to be rich sheiks and communicate in some made-up language really has to be seen to be believed.

The film is based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel, which was adapted by Matthew Chapman (Consenting Adults, Color of Night). It would be naive to assume that Westlake was pleased with the way this film turned out because none of the characterizations are even remotely decent.

Anastas Michos’ lensing is frequently surprisingly elegant, but large parts of the film look very uneven. However, this unevenness was almost certainly introduced in the editing room where plenty of footage must have been cut.

The film has a great soundtrack. It features original music from Tyler Bates (Guardians of the Galaxy, Watchmen) and a number of excellent r&b tracks. The two big hits that emerged from it were Erick Sermon’s “Music” (with samples from an untitled master performed by the legendary Marvin Gaye) and Craig Mack’s “Wooden Horse” (with samples from "High Hopes" performed by Frank Sinatra).

What's the Worst That Could Happen? Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.84:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sam Weisman's What's the Worst That Could Happen? arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

The release has been sourced from the same master which MGM worked with when it produced its first DVD release of What's the Worst That Could Happen? in 2001. While there are no distracting anomalies the age of the master certainly shows, especially during the darker footage where shadow definition isn't as convincing as it should be. As a result, some flatness occasionally emerges and even color nuances struggle a bit (see screencapture #11). Most close-ups look good, but the larger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to see that depth could be better. Grain is present throughout the entire film, but it should be better exposed and resolved. Colors are stable and mostly natural, but saturation should be better. Overall image stability is excellent. There are no debris, scratches, stains, or other serious imperfections. So the Blu-ray release definitely represents an upgrade in quality over the existing DVD release, but the film could look fresher and certainly a lot more vibrant in high-definition. My score is 3.75/5.00. (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).

What's the Worst That Could Happen? Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional white English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

There is a nice range of nuanced dynamics and depth is consistently pleasing. Separation is good, but do not expect to hear plenty of impressive surround movement. The dialog is stable, clean, and always easy to follow. Also, there are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report in our review.

What's the Worst That Could Happen? Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for What's the Worst That Could Happen? (3 min, 1080p).

• "Scene Stealers" Featurette - archival featurette with raw footage from the shooting of the film and comments from director Sam Weisman, executive producer David Hoberman, John Leguizamo, Bernie Mac, Nora Dunn, and Martin Lawrence, amongst others. In English, not subtitled. (25 min, 1080p).

• Music Video - original video for "Music" by Eric Sermon featuring Marvin Gaye. (4 min, 1080p).

What's the Worst That Could Happen? Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What's the Worst That Could Happen? is a difficult film to like. There are plenty of stars in it but they are seriously struggling with their characters and as a result very little, if anything, actually works as intended. The film could look better in high-definition, but the Blu-ray release represents a good upgrade in quality over the existing R1 DVD release. RENT IT.