Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Only a smattering of fairly minor issues affected the transfer.
For the most part, sharpness looked good. At times, wider shots tended to be a little soft, but those examples weren’t terribly intrusive. Much of the film appeared pretty accurate and concise. No concerns with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and edge enhancement remained minor. Source flaws also failed to create problems.
In terms of colors, Star tended to stay with a natural palette. Hues took on a light golden tone at times, but that stylistic choice didn’t overwhelm. Instead, the colors appeared pretty clear and concise. Blacks were deep and firm, while shadows showed good delineation. Overall, this was a pleasing presentation.
I thought that the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Star seemed fine but it didn’t excel because of a lack of ambition. Like most comedies, the movie featured a limited soundfield that strongly favored the forward channels. It showed nice stereo spread to the music as well as some general ambience from the sides.
Panning was decent, and the surrounds usually kicked in basic reinforcement. A few scenes opened up better, though, like at a party; that sequence boasted lively music. However, most of the movie stayed with limited imaging.
Audio quality appeared good. Speech was natural and distinct, with no issues related to edginess or intelligibility. Effects sounded clean and accurate, with good fidelity and no signs of distortion. Music was perfectly fine, as the score and songs showed positive dimensionality. This track was good enough for a “B-“ but didn’t particularly impress.
Only a smattering of extras fill out the DVD. Laughter Is Contagious goes for five minutes, 16 seconds and delivers a gag reel. Sometimes packages like this throw in some amusing alternate takes, but this one sticks with the standard collection of goofs and giggles. It’s not entertaining.
Three featurettes follow. Behind the Teeth goes for 11 minutes, 22 seconds and provides notes from director Tom Brady, writer Allen Covert, writer/actor Nick Swardson, and actors Christina Ricci, Kevin Nealon, Edward Herrmann, Miriam Flynn, Stephen Dorff, Don Johnson, Ido Mosseri, and Adam Herschman. The piece looks at story and characters as well as cast and performances. It’s a thin, superficial piece with no real information on display.
Gary: Tough Customerlasts four minutes, 20 seconds and features Swardson, Nealon, Ricci, Basically this is another gag reel, as it mostly consists of silliness related to one of Nealon’s scenes. Nothing much makes it useful.
Finally, Bucky Sparkles lasts two minutes, 29 seconds and includes notes from Brady, and actors Meredith Giangrande and Dana Min Goodman. The clip looks at the Bucky orgasm scenes. Like “Gary”, it’s mostly outtakes and it’s not particularly interesting.
The disc launches with promos for Jack and Jill, 30 Minutes or Less, A Good Old Fashioned Orgy and Attack the Block. These also appear under Previews. No trailer for Star pops up here.
Some films come with no apparent redeeming factors, and Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star falls into that category. A misbegotten story with lousy jokes and lackluster performances, nothing about it works. The DVD comes with good picture and audio but lacks substantial supplements. Even the most diehard fan of the Adam Sandler School of Comedy will want to skip this flawed flop.
