BLOGS
Given that I'm still wading through the massive mounds of extras for the series Spaced, I was hopeful that a comedy that was from the mind of State goofball Michael Ian Black, and was co-penned by Spaced's Simon Pegg, would be similarly well stocked with bonus features that would give me the giggles. I was wrong. I forgot to factor in the David Schwimmer effect. That immediately takes all the potential uniqueness and sucks the life out of it.
The flick, if you haven't seen it, and likely you haven't because despite the cult following for Pegg after Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, this one didn't break any box office records. There's a reason. It's your everyday romantic comedy that happens to have a few glimpses of hilarity. Basically Pegg plays Dennis, a lovable loser who freaks out on his wedding day and runs off on his pregnant bride, Libby (played by Thandie Newton). Five years later, he's a security guard living in a basement apartment and barely able to pay his rent. Libby's got a new guy in her life, the rich schmoozer Whit (Hank Azaria), who can offer Libby and her son everything that Dennis can't. In an effort to compete with Whit, Dennis joins a marathon for charity and predictable chaos ensues. The highlights and funniest moments of the entire film happen when scene-stealing Dylan Moran and Harish Patel are helping out as Dennis' trainers.
First up, deleted scenes. You can watch them with or without commentary by David Schwimmer. If you care to know why they were cut, watch them with monotone Schwimmer talking over them. But you may enjoy them more as outtakes without his annoying voice. Unless you are a huge fan of the former Ross Geller, and then, whatever. I don't know what to tell you. This may be your favorite DVD set ever. Other than Schwimmer's commentary, there's really not much here to write home about. Just a couple kinda amusing scenes that hit the cutting room floor for timing/pacing reasons.
Then there's something called "Goof." I saw this and got excited, thinking it was crazy flubs, because frankly, I can imagine that Pegg's a cut-up during filming and therefore this would have real potential. However, this is not a blooper reel. Instead, it is footage from a press interview, where Thandie plays a practical joke on Pegg right as he's about to go do an interview. It's pretty amusing, but I would have liked to see more of Thandie's silly side. Pegg says she's quite the prankster.
Lastly, there's the feature commentary. Which again involves Schwimmer... so proceed at your own risk. Newton and Pegg are there as well to lighten things up a little bit. Even Pegg's mom is in the background, for some barely explained reason. There's a lot of talk about where things were filmed, Thandie's wig, Pegg's fatsuit and their love of all their costars. It's fine, if you are a die-hard fan, but it's not a laugh riot.
That's really all this DVD has to offer. Nothing from Michael Ian Black, who seemed to distance himself from the script (probably wisely) after changes were made. Nothing from Hank Azaria, who disappointingly plays the straight man in this. Though if he'd done the commentary, perhaps he could have done it in a variety of Simpsons voices to jazz things up a bit. It does kindly offer you the option of watching in Full-Screen or Widescreen... which I found particularly hilarious in this day in age. Who still watches things in full-screen when widescreen is available? Aside from my mother, who doesn't like those little black bars taking up all of the TV.
BLOG ARCHIVES
DVDs Unwrapped
January 2009
4 Entries
December 2008
11 Entries
November 2008
16 Entries
October 2008
13 Entries
September 2008
21 Entries
August 2008
5 Entries
July 2008
5 Entries
June 2008
1 Entries
May 2008
3 Entries
April 2008
12 Entries
March 2008
3 Entries
Blog Categories
Animation on DVD
7 Entries
Discussions, Vociferations & Debates
4 Entries
Letterbox of Recommendations
2 Entries
Movies on DVD
66 Entries
Multi-Disc Mania
4 Entries
TV on DVD
28 Entries
Comments