7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The story of Ryan, a depressed man who believes he is getting nowhere in his life and plans to kill himself. In the middle of his attempted suicide, he is asked to watch his neighbor's dog, Wilfred, but Ryan can only see Wilfred as a real person instead of an animal that everyone else sees. As they begin to bond more and become friends, Wilfred teaches Ryan a life lesson about people, love, and living.
Starring: Elijah Wood, Jason Gann, Fiona Gubelmann, Dorian Brown Pham, Chris KleinDark humor | 100% |
Comedy | 68% |
Imaginary | 30% |
Surreal | 23% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A little Mr. Ed, a little Harvey, a little "Donnie Darko meets Russell Crowe on a bender"—that last one is how series co-creator
Jason Gann puts it—Wilfred is one of the weirder comedies on television. The show's first season introduced us to Ryan (the dapperly-dressed
Elijah Wood), a suicidal lawyer who—for reasons still unexplained—sees his neighbor's labrador retriever, Wilfred (Gann), as a walking, talking,
anthropomorphized dog-man in a cheap furry costume. Soon, the depressive solicitor and the foul-mouthed, teddy bear-humping canine-sapien are
best friends, with Wilfred seemingly playing both the angel and the demon over Ryan's shoulders, motivating him to be his best self but also
manipulating him for selfish purposes.
From the outset of the series, there have been a few obvious questions: Is Ryan certifiably insane? Is Wilfred a manifestation of his subconscious? The
id to his ego? A moral compass in doggy form? Or, is there something even stranger going on? An incursion of the supernatural, maybe, or a deep-
seated government conspiracy? The show has made hints at all of the above, but prefers ambiguity to an open-and-shut explanation. Like other
"mystery" series—Lost, The X-Files, Twin Peaks—the what, exactly, is going on here tension is all part of the driving
narrative force, and the show's writers would be unwise to answer our questions too quickly. That said, they also have to keep the story compelling,
which is something they sometimes struggle to do in season two.
Wilfred is further proof that you really don't need expensive gear to make a great-looking TV series or movie anymore. Since its inception, the
show has been shot entirely with prosumer-grade DSLRs—the Canon 7D and, this season, the Nikon D800—that can be bought for a few grand each.
Does the footage look as crisp and color-accurate as material shot with the comparatively pricy Red cameras or the Arri Alexa? No, not quite. But it's
certainly far better than similarly-budgeted shows used to look. (See the early standard definition seasons of It's Always Sunny in
Philadelphia.) The D800 outputs an image that has that distinct DSLR look—characterized by very shallow depth of field—and this has a form-
equals-function way of emphasizing the series' dreamier, more surreal aspects. Some scenes go even further by using Lensbaby lenses that distort and
smear the out-of-focus areas of the frame.
Clarity isn't exceptional when you start examining screen grabs—closeups are okay, while longer shots are almost always soft—but there's never any
doubt here that you're viewing a high definition picture. Color has its peculiarities too, with occasionally wonky grading and blown-out highlights, but this
is often the case with DSLRs, which have 8-bit video color depth compared to the 16-bit processor of the Red Epic/Scarlet. DSLR video is making great
strides, though, from one generation to the next, and I'm eagerly awaiting the first feature shot using the Magic Lantern raw video "hack" for the 5D
Mark III, which allows for uncompressed 14-bit raw output. But that's a tangent for another time. Compared to the first season, season two of
Wilfred has fewer noticeable compression/aliasing/artifact issues, and considering how it's shot, I think the show looks fantastic.
Like season one, Wilfred's second season features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound presentation. There's nothing particularly notable about the audio here, good or bad. It's functional and listenable—always clear, balanced—with good projection from the front speakers. The rear channels are used periodically for ambience and the rare effect, but, like most TV comedies, I wouldn't say the show makes much of a real effort to sustain a sense of immersion. And that's fine. Dialogue, most importantly, is consistently clean and comprehensible, and the musical cues fill out the mix nicely. No issues here. The discs also include English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles, which appear in easy-to-read white lettering.
I would've loved some audio commentaries with Jason Gann and Elijah Wood, but no dice. The season two set has a few decent extras, but nothing that would convince you to buy the discs instead of waiting for the season to show up on Netflix Instant:
In its second season, Wilfred grows in some ways—it introduces a new love interest for Ryan, explores possible reasons for Wilfred's raison d'être, and takes a few dark turns—but it also seems burdened by repetition and a need to please both hardcore fans and casual viewers just looking for a few laughs. It's still a funny show, don't get me wrong, I just hope that season three mixes it up a bit more and pushes at the boundaries of the series. I'm also a little underwhelmed with the extras in this 2-disc set. Some audio commentaries would've been killer; as it stands, there's not much here to convince you to buy the season instead of simply waiting for it to show up on Netflix Instant or other streaming services. Whether or not you need to own this season will depend on how rabid of a Wilfred fan you are.
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