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PARAMOUNT

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Sean Anders
Cast:
Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, Thomas Haden Church
Writing Credits:
Brian Burns, Sean Anders and John Morris

Synopsis:
Brad Whitaker is a radio host trying to get his stepchildren to love him and call him dad, but his plans turn upside down when the biological father returns.

Box Office:
Opening Weekend
$38,740,203 on 3,271 Screens.
Domestic Gross
$145,237,796.

MPAA:
Rated PG-13

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio:
English DTS-X
French Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1
English Audio Description
English DTS Headphone-X
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French
Portuguese
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French
Portuguese

Runtime: 96 min.
Price: $39.99
Release Date: 3/22/2016

Bonus:
• “The Making of Daddy’s Home” Featurette
• “”Daddy-Off” Featurette
• “Daddy Daughter Dance” Featurette
• “Halftime Stunt” Featurette
• “Tony Hawk: Skater Double” Featurette
• “Child’s Play” Featurette
• “Hannibal Buress: The Perfect Houseguest” Featurettte
• Blooper
• Deleted and Extended Scenes
• DVD Copy


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
Panasonic TC-P60VT60 60-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Smart Plasma HDTV; Sony STR-DG1200 7.1 Channel Receiver; Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player using HDMI outputs; Michael Green Revolution Cinema 6i Speakers (all five); Kenwood 1050SW 150-watt Subwoofer.

RELATED REVIEWS


Daddy's Home [Blu-Ray] (2015)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (March 7, 2016)

Back in 2010, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg united for the first time with The Other Guys. That flick became a hit, so they come back for round two via 2015’s Daddy’s Home.

Though he eagerly embraces his role as stepfather, Brad Whitaker (Ferrell) struggles to connect to his new wife Sara’s (Linda Cardelllini) kids Megan (Scarlett Estevez) and Dylan (Owen Vaccaro). However, the perpetually positive and supportive Brad slowly makes inroads and starts to get the kids to love him.

A major complication ensues when the kids’ bio dad Dusty Mayron (Wahlberg) re-enters the picture. His return energizes the children and threatens Brad’s newfound connection to them. Who will win the battle between the nurturing Brad and the badass Dusty?

If you guess “both”, you win a cookie. Does that count as a spoiler? Yes – if you’ve never seen a movie in your life. Given I assume readers aren’t new to the cinematic arts, the film’s happy finale shouldn’t surprise.

Given that the outcome never seems in doubt, Home needs to score points via execution more than plot/character creativity. It manages this feat at times, but far too infrequently. While it comes with a handful of laughs, the film seems pretty flat most of the time.

Part of the problem comes from the lack of real plot. Home offers a sliver of an idea but it does little to sustain interest in its theme. Essentially this leaves it as a collection of gags with only sporadic connection to reality.

While I don’t expect a comedy like this to depict wholly believable situations, Home departs from logic too much of the time. Sure, I get that the film wants to play the situations for wacky laughs, but matters too often fall on the idiotic side of the street. The story escalates circumstances to become more ridiculous than funny.

The absence of a concrete story also reduces the impact of the jokes and makes the movie drag. Even at a relatively brief 96 minutes, Home feels long and proceeds at a sluggish pace. It feels like it has exhausted its potential well before the credits roll.

While I like the actors involved, they don’t manage to show much chemistry or impact here. None of them harm the movie, but they seem to be on cruise control, so they do nothing to elevate the project.

These factors leave Daddy’s Home as a film that boasts occasional humor, but not enough to sustain us. With bland characters and too many silly situations, the movie meanders and sags much of the time.


The Blu-ray Grades: Picture B/ Audio B-/ Bonus C-

Daddy’s Home appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie boasted a generally good presentation.

Sharpness looked fine most of the time. Interiors occasionally seemed a little soft, but those weren’t a major concern, so the movie usually appeared well-defined. The image lacked moiré effects or jaggies, and edge haloes failed to materialize. Print flaws also didn’t show up in this clean presentation.

Like most modern comedies, Home opted for a palette with a mild teal and golden tint. Within those constraints, the colors seemed well-rendered. Blacks were dark and tight, and shadows were decent, though some interiors appeared a bit thick. Overall, the movie demonstrated pretty appealing visuals.

As for the movie’s DTS-X soundtrack – which downconverted to DTS-HD MA 7.1 on my system - it went with pretty typical fare for a comedy. Music spread to the side and rear channels, and occasional “action elements” – like skateboarding or a pro basketball game – opened up matters in a moderate manner. Nothing here really excelled, though, so don’t expect a particularly involving track.

Audio quality was fine. Music seemed full and vivid, and effects showed good replication; those elements demonstrated solid clarity and heft. Speech was always distinctive and concise. Again, this wasn’t a memorable soundtrack, but it suited the movie well enough.

When we move to extras, we start with The Making of Daddy’s Home. In this 11-minute, 54-second piece, we hear from producer Chris Henchy, director Sean Anders, and actors Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, and Linda Cardellini. We learn of the film’s development, story and characters, cast and performances, and Anders’ impact on the production. This becomes a general piece without much substance – and it includes spoilers, so don’t watch it unless you’ve already seen the movie.

A few more short featturettes follow. We get Daddy-Off (6:44), Daddy Daughter Dance (5:11), Halftime Stunt (8:55), Tony Hawk: Skater Double (4:02), Child’s Play (5:00), Hannibal Buress: The Perfect Houseguest (5:36) and “Blooper: Jeet Kune Do” (2:05). Across these, we get comments from Anders, Ferrell, Wahlberg, Henchy, Cardellini, stunt cheerleader Taryn Terrell, stunt coordinator Todd Bryant, property master Michael Sabo, skate doubles Tony Hawk and Mike McGill, and actors Owen Vaccaro, Bill Burr, Kobe Bryant, and Hannibal Buress.

The featurettes tend toward cast/character/story topics, stunts and scene specifics. We find a smattering of minor details but not a lot of concrete information.

Five Deleted and Extended Scenes take up a total of seven minutes, 38 seconds. We find “Car Ride Q&A” (2:32), “Have Fun” (1:09), “Pre-Dance” (1:19), “Motorcycle Brad” (1:32) and “Special Ops” (1:06).

These tend to add character exposition, which makes them more valuable than most deleted/extended scenes. We see the development of some relationships and find out more about the characters. Perhaps these would’ve made the final project drag, but I think they offer some useful material.

A second disc offers a DVD copy of Home. It includes none of the Blu-ray’s extras.

Like 2010 predecessor The Other Guys, 2015’s Daddy’s Home manages a sporadic array of laughs. However, it sputters too much of the time and never lives up to its potential. The Blu-ray brings us mostly positive picture and audio along with minor supplements. Home offers mediocre comedy that doesn’t manage to ignite on a consistent basis.

Viewer Film Ratings: 3.3333 Stars Number of Votes: 3
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