If ever you wanted to see Celine Dion launch her acting career, your day has arrived! 2023’s Love Again features Dion in the role she was born to play – literally, since it casts her as “Celine Dion”.

When her boyfriend John Wright (Arinzé Kene) dies in a car accident, Mira Ray (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) sinks into a deep depression that last two years. As an attempt to bring herself out of this, she texts romantic messages to John‘s old cell number.

Unbeknownst to Mira, that number got reassigned to Rob Burns (Sam Heughan), and he finds himself taken by these statements. Smitten, Rob tries to figure out how to meet Mira, and when he works with her for a magazine profile, he asks Celine Dion (herself) for help.

Of course! When I run into dilemmas related to my dating life, I always seek out aging pop stars for their advice.

To call the story of Again contrived would act as an understatement. Even if we ignore the frankly bizarre involvement of Dion as both character and plot device, the movie contorts itself to embrace its notions of romantic comedy.

Hoo boy, what a plot hole-filled mess Again offers! The biggest issue comes from the most obvious: why doesn’t Rob simply text back to Mira’s anonymous messages?

Because the film needs to find absurd ways to advance its ridiculous plot and the sane rationale would end the tale in 10 minutes. Again stretches its idiotic conceit for eons and never takes the logical path.

Inevitably, this creates the Big Third Act Rift. We know Mira will eventually find out the truth and form drama.

Insert rolling-eyes emoji here – though you could use that emoji at any point during the cloying and ridiculous Again. The film packs one cliché after another, as it mixes bad comedy with bad drama with bad romance.

Oh, and it often feels like a Celine Dion infomercial. We get relentless promotion of the singer, as much of the movie exists solely to glorify her.

At one point, a hapless actor plays a journalist who must utter these lines: “Celine, you’re arguably more popular today than when you started. How do you think you’ve managed to stay relevant for so long?”

A film that literally names Mira’s boyfriend “Mr. Wright” and that uses her the lead actor’s actual husband as her bad meetup date doesn’t just flop. Again demonstrates so little wit, cleverness and intelligence that I find myself tempted to smash my TV to ensure it never accidentally ends up before my eyes in the future.

Footnote: extra Celine-worshipping footage shows up in the end credits.

Love Again appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into an appealing presentation.

Sharpness satisfied, with nary a sliver of unintentional softness. The movie seemed accurate and well-defined.

The image lacked shimmering or jaggies, and it also demonstrated no edge haloes. Print flaws remained absent as well.

For the most part, the presentation presented a low-key amber and teal palette. The Blu-ray executed them in an appropriate manner.

Blacks looked dark and dense, while shadows felt smooth and concise. I thought we got a well-rendered transfer.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Again lacked much ambition, which didn’t come as a surprise given its rom-com orientation. A thunderstorm became the scene that added the most pizzazz.

Otherwise, music showed nice spread, and street or restaurant scenes brought some involvement as well. Nothing memorable emerged along the way, though.

Audio quality satisfied, with dialogue that came across as natural and concise. Music showed nice range and warmth.

Effects didn’t have much to do, but they stayed accurate and lacked distortion. I thought the mix suited the story.

A featurette called Finding Love Again runs eight minutes, 40 seconds. It offers notes from writer/director Jim Strouse, producer Esther Hornstein, and actors Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan, Nick Jonas, Russell Tovey, Sofia Barclay and Lydia West.

“Finding” covers the original German film and its adaptation, story/characters, cast and performances, and Strouse’s impact on the shoot. A few useful nuggets emerge but most of “Finding” remains fluffy.

Six Deleted Scenes span a total of eight minutes, four seconds. These offer minor expository bits and more character beats, with an emphasis on added romance between the leads. None of them seem engaging.

The disc opens with ads for Where the Crawdads Sing, A Man Called Otto, A Journal for Jordan, I Wanna Dance With Somebody and No Hard Feelings. No trailer for Again appears here.

Even by the low standards of the rom-com genre, Love Again seems subpar. A mix of cheap laughs, contrived romance and an infomercial for Celine Dion, this becomes a terrible movie. The Blu-ray delivers excellent visuals, adequate audio and minor supplements. Nothing about this tacky film works.