Coach
(2010/Lionsgate DVD)
Picture:
C- Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: C
Hugh
Dancy has done some film work that gained him notice (Black Hawk Down) along with several British TV series and some
films that did not work (King Arthur,
Blood & Chocolate, Basic Instinct 2, Jane Austen Book Club) and unfortunately, his choice of uninspired
scripts continues with Will Frears’ Coach
(2010), a comedy with few laughs and much formula as the very flawed and out of
wack guy whose character flaws may ruin his life. It does not help that he is a bit of a jerk.
However,
the script by TV actor turned writer Jason Pugatch cannot rise above the
formula it tries to change, with Nick being an oaf to the point that we have no
reasons to like him and Dancy does not exude enough charm or anything else to
offset that. His girlfriend leaves him
because he has no job, a female doctor might be interested in him, but he has
no life, nor is he doing anything productive.
That is until he meets some local kids who need to learn more about one
thing he can do well, play soccer.
For about
87 minutes, I waited for this to work, but no one involved seems to have any
idea of what they are doing. The acting
is also sub par and many seem to be bored as we watch. The result plays like a package deal that was
really a missed opportunity to make this material work in a new way. At best, it is a slightly interesting
failure, but unless you are ultra-curious, skip it.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is shockingly bad, looking like a bad HD
shoot, but if this is film, whoever did the digital internegative should go to
an optometrist immediately! Edge
enhancement and noise riddle this playback throughout and dark scenes are worse
than the bright ones, making this look like a bad TV movie. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is of a
dialogue-based work and along with the low budget, this is not an inspired mix,
with even the music sounding limited in range.
There are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
