They
Came Together (2014/Lionsgate Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B Extras: B- Film: B-
They
Came Together (2014) is an absurdly funny and intelligent
romantic comedy starring Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler that employs humor
close to that of Airplane and is by the co-writer and director
of Wet Hot American Summer, David Wain.
The
narrative rolls out as a dinner date story of how Rudd and Poehler
got married and fell in love that they are telling to a happily
married couple (Bill Hader and Ellie Kemper) at a fancy restaurant.
In the opening, they joke about how their love story is a bad
romantic comedy and it hits all the archetypes that the genre
employs. What works is that the characters of Rudd and Poehler hate
each other at first and over the course of the story fall in love and
then out of love and then back in love again.
Poehler
has a cute little candy shop in the city that she has always dreamed
of whilst Rudd works for a corporate candy shop that threatens to
close down her business. Not agreeing with the corporate views of
the company he works for and having to deal with a cheating wife
(Colbie Smulders), Rudd bumps into Poehler for the first time at a
Halloween party where they are both dressed as Benjamin Franklin and
have a bad run in on the street where they knock over each other's
food items for the party. They bicker and fight at the party even
more when they discover that their friends were trying to set them up
with one another. The cast in the film is pretty impressive and
includes Michael Shannon, Ed Helms, Adam Scott, John Stamos, Jeffrey
Dean Morgan, and Kenan Thompson. I just wonder where Tina Fey and
Kristen Wig where?
The
film isn't perfect however and has some jokes that are so far out of
left field they barely make any sense. The plot is also, with good
reason, paper thin and highly reliant on the stereotypes of the
genre. If you find grown men pooping in their superhero costumes at
a Halloween party funny then this may the movie for you.
The
transfer on the disc is crisp and clear in 1080p high definition
image with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio and an impressive DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 track. A lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track is also
accompanied on the disc for older systems.
Special
Features include Digital HD Copy, Audio Commentary by David
Wain and Co-writer Michael Showalter, a Featurette, The San Francisco
Sketchfest Table Read, Deleted Scenes,
and a Theatrical Trailer.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.vimeo.com/jamielockhart
