Punching
Henry
(2016/Well Go Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: B Film: C+
An
interesting character piece, Punching
Henry
(2016) is a hopeless musician-type film that pits Henry Phillips as a
comedic songwriter front and center on a interesting journey of self
discovery as he wrestles with where his career is headed. While I
would say it's in the same genre as Inside
Llewyn Davis,
Punching
Henry
is a modern day set piece that is more comedy than drama. The film
has won several notable awards including the official selection at
SXSW film festival and gets a solid presentation on disc thanks to
Well Go USA.
The
film stars Tig Notaro, Jim Jefferies, Doug Stanhope, Sarah Silverman,
and J.K. Simmons.
Comedic
and heartwarming, the tale of Henry Phillips is anything but
ordinary, as he bombs at comedy clubs and struggles financially and
romantically, he starts to feel that his career is waning. Taking an
offer to make the jump to L.A. by a TV Producer (Simmons), Henry
tells his story over the radio with a well known host (Silverman), as
he recalls his interesting journey as he gets an offer to be the star
of a TV show. Along the way, he gets propositioned to be a father to
a child in a lesbian relationship, meets some well known comedians,
and struggles to fit in with the Los Angeles lifestyle.
Punching
Henry is presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect
ratio of 1.85:1 and a great sounding, lossless DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 track, the presentation is up to standards with natural
sounds and cinematic look that isn't too stylized but is original.
(A lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track is also on the disc if you
don't have a DTS-friendly system.)
There's
a lot of detail on the skin tones on the characters and the textures
on clothing and lighting is clean and consistent throughout. There
isn't much of a score throughout the film as the only predominant
music being that of the musicians that are playing on screen. This
leaves the dialogue scenes to carry on their own without a score,
which makes the music that does come in from Henry and other
performers stand out.
Special
Features include...
Deleted
Scenes
Brandon
Walsh Suffers
Stupid
Joe
Trailer,
plus trailers for other Well Go releases
While
funny and at times charming, Punching
Henry
is a good film to suggest to music film fans should watch and may get
a kick out of more than others. In many ways, this film seems like
it could happen very easily in real life with very realistic
characters.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
