Catch & Release (Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C- Film: C-
Trying to
find her way after the cancellation of Alias,
Jennifer Gardner has been trying to find a hit (especially after Elektra did so badly) so here she is in
a safe romantic comedy. It is written
and directed by Erin Brockovich
writer Susannah Grant, looking for a breakthrough of her own. Catch
& Release (2006) is a mall-movie safe women’s film made by women that
is beyond obvious and never works.
Gray
(Gardner) is mourning the death of her fiancé when three of his friends are
there trying to support her. Kevin
Smith, Sam Jaeger and Timothy Olyphant play them, so which one do you think
she’ll fall for? Try the one who is not
a dork, short, eccentric and/or different looking. This is not a female fantasy and not anything
else but a formula film. Even throwing
in more characters later in desperation does not change much. Too bad, because Grant obviously has more
talent than this project would tell you she had and all the added melodrama
cannot disguise her script’s limits.
Juliette Lewis and Fiona Shaw also star.
The 1080p
digital 2.35 X 1 High Definition image is not bad, has little in the way of
digital over-enhancement and show the work of John Lindley, A.S.C., who has
lensed many Music Videos and interesting films like Pleasantville. Though he has
done many lesser commercial films, he is reliable and is here to make the film
pleasant looking. The HD brings out this
intent, while the PCM 5.1 16/48 track outdoes the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in
fullness and warmth throughout with a score by BT and Thomas Stinson hat is not
too memorable. BT (aka Brian Transeau,
whose Monster score and This Binary Universe albums can be
found elsewhere on this site) was trying to diversify, while Stinson is a
founding member of The Replacements. For
both, this seems like a commercial move.
Extras
include two audio commentaries by Grant.
She is joined by Smith on one and Lindley on another. You also get deleted scenes, auditions and a
making of featurette. Not bad for a film
that feels like filler.
- Nicholas Sheffo
