License To Wed (HD-DVD/DVD Combo Format)

 

Picture: B/C+     Sound: B+/B-     Extras: D     Film: D

 

 

Rivaling disasters like Father’s Day as the worst film Robin Williams will ever make, Ken (Sesame Street – Follow That Bird) Kwapis’ License To Wed (2007) is a smug, dreadful, unfunny, marriage comedy disaster so bad that you have to scan back to see and hear you just encountered another bad joke or painfully bad moment that did not work.

 

Williams is the priest who thinks he knows it all, is so annoying that vows could be amended to prevent more disasters like him in the future and the screenplay just goes on and on and on with pseudo-wit that it is bound to get Razzies, even sadly for the likable Mandy Moore.  John Krasinski is her love interest and though you can believe they would like each other since some chemistry is there, everything else is missing.  After this, I’d rather watch Licence To Kill.

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image was shot in HD by the capable Director of Photography John Bailey, A.S.C., but it is lacking in HD and really bad on the standard DVD side.  Noise is a factor and color substandard.  The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix is nice and clean, but there is not much for it to offer since this is a dialogue-based pseudo-comedy.  The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix is not as good, but not that much worse on the HD side, while the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on the DVD side is still the weakest of all.  Dialogue is not always good here either.  Extras are useless and include additional scenes with optional commentary by Kwapis and the bizarre, unfunny Ask The Choir Boy interactive feature you get to choose which calls the silly kid in the suit answers about religion and God.  Ugh!

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo