One For The Money (2011/Lionsgate Blu-ray)/Ralphie
May: Too Big To Ignore (2012/Image DVD)
Picture:
B-/C Sound: B-/C+ Extras: C/C- Main Programs: C-/C
Now for
more allegedly funny releases that rarely are.
First we
have Julie Ann Robinson’s One For The
Money (2011) featuring Katherine Heigl as a woman desperate enough in New
Jersey (Pittsburgh and surrounding areas are unconvincingly used in the other
city’s place) to work for a bail company, but you know she is not going to be
able to handle the job, which is supposed to be funny. It is not.
Neither is she or the many recognizable supporting cast who sometimes
only show up for a few minutes like John Leguizamo, Jason O’Mara, Sherri
Shepherd and a scene-stealing Debbie Reynolds.
This might
seem like some kind of good idea, but when the script is as silly as it is
unfocused and everything is a joke, you then get limited character development,
cartoonish people and nothing that really adds up except into a waste of time. The result is that it seems much longer than
its 91 minutes. Extras include Digital
Copy for PC and PC portable devices, two making of featurettes, amusing Gag
Reel (at least they were having fun),
trailer and Deleted Scene.
So you
would think a stand-up comedy might be better.
Ralphie May: Too Big To Ignore
(2012) runs 108 minutes and despite agreeing with some points of view and that
the show was consistent, being gross and crass is not the same as being funny,
no matter how realistic or even truthful and accurate May is throughout the
show. I will not even discuss the
passive weight jokes, but hardly any of this was funny and is an acquired taste
for a post-modern audience. A behind the
scenes clip is the only extra. See it
for yourself and decide.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Money is on the weak and soft side, a location HD shoot that offers
mixed results. Lighting is too much like
a sitcom in its flatness and broad approach, resulting in an odd look for the
various locations. The 1080i 1.78 X 1
digital High Definition image on May
is even softer, being lower def and also an HD shoot, but a little more stable
since it is just a stand-up shoot. Color
on both are good, but not great. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Money is joke and dialogue-based with the sound towards the front
speakers, leaving music and sound effects filling the surround channels. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on May is weaker and seems to be a
bumped-up stereo recording.
- Nicholas Sheffo
