“She’s Out of My League” Blu-ray Review
Generally speaking male driven romantic comedies don’t do too well unless your last name is Apatow, so the fact that She’s Out of My League was promoted as a lot raunchier than it perhaps truly was is no surprise. The comedy, made for $20 million, brought in a respectable $42 million in worldwide box office receipts—which is surprisingly good not only because our lead, Jay Baruchel, is usually relegated to the secondary roles, but also because the film really kind of tried to combine the raunchier testosterone comedy with the more predictable romantic comedy ending…all while wrapped up in an R-rated shell.
Synopsis
In this outrageous comedy, Kirk (Jay Baruchel, “Knocked Up”, “Tropic Thunder”), an average guy, can’t believe his luck when the successful and gorgeous babe Molly (Alice Eve, “Sex and the City 2”) falls for him. His smart-ass friends, his crazy family, and even his obnoxious ex-girlfriend are just as shocked as he is. Now, see what the critics are calling a “rowdy blast”* as Kirk goes to great lengths – including some hardcore man-scaping – to make the relationship work and prove that she’s not out of his league. *Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE
The R-rating to me is key here because while it definitely requires that rating, it genuinely doesn’t go to extremes that other comedic films have with that rating. The foul language is kept to a minimum and it is instead more of a constant back and forth banter between the friends in the film that produces the raunchier dialogue. In that same regard it’s also a very kind film as Baruchel’s character is immediately likeable and Alice Eve fits her role in the film brilliantly. I was reminded of The Girl Next Door while watching this film, if only because of the “guy gets incredibly hot girl despite odds stacked against him” type of scenario. It’s incredibly played out to be sure but it still works for rudimentary entertainment.
I think the real driving factor in this film working was the supporting cast. Yes, Baruchel and Eve are the stars and the focus is almost entirely on them, but we also get characters like T.J. Miller’s “Stainer” who may be the funniest part about the whole film. Krysten Ritter as Patty was also another delight as her incredibly vulgar mouth at the start of the film seemed to set the tone for her relationship with Eve’s character. Don’t get me wrong—the film is incredibly superficial and requires little to no thinking as even the biggest plot “turns” are seen a mile away…although the fact there were almost two break ups in the film was kind of a new one. It worked too because the first one really was kind of an interesting surprise, both in how it happened and how it was resolved.
There’s a lot to enjoy about this film and while it will definitely not go down as one of the greatest comedies of all time, it is nevertheless a cute distraction. Again, I really think the R rating helped open it up to be a bit more real-worldly than the typical romantic comedy and while I hesitate to shove it into that genre completely, it really does have elements of it that are undeniable. It also has a strangely old soundtrack with quite a few dated songs making an appearance so it has that working against it as well, although I wasn’t quite as perturbed by that as others have been.
Overall She’s Out of My League is as predictable as it is charming…which in this case is a good thing. Definitely a Recommended outing.
The Blu-ray
Paramount pushes out She’s Out of My League in a single disc Elite Blu-ray case with a (sadly) small collection of extras. The case sports the usual insert for firmware notices and the menu system for the film is nicely done. Oddly enough the trailers that played before the menu loaded were all in 720p, something that was really noticeable to me as it was not only not full HD but they also seemingly compressed the trailers quite horribly as well. Oh well, not a huge deal…it’s just odd I can download better looking trailers from YouTube than I can get off of a Blu-ray.
Speaking of video quality, She’s Out of My League looks quite sharp. I was never really blown away by anything in the film in terms of visuals, but everything looked appropriately clean and clear for a modern production. The AVC encoded transfer had a solid color palette and strong blacks, but…honestly, I spent less time looking at the video transfer this time around. It just wasn’t that kind of a film to really grab hold of your eyes.
The audio, on the other hand…man. I didn’t expect there to be so much directional work and LFE output from this one. Granted the majority of it all belonged to the films soundtrack, but there were other sound effects as well, ranging from crowded and noisy parties, to bowling alleys with various lanes resounding in the background or the more prominent sequences at the airport with really nice overhead effects thrown in as well. You don’t often look to a comedy to sport an entertaining DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, but this one didn’t do too badly for itself at all.
Extras include:
Get Rated (1:45, 1080p) after credits clip
Audio Commentary with Director Jim Field Smith
Devon’s Dating Show (7:28, 1080p)
Deleted Scenes (3:33, 1080p, with optional director commentary)
Blooper Reel (6:20, 1080p)
As can be expected it’s pretty light on the extras, but it is nice to see that there is an audio commentary at least…although I would’ve liked to have had some of the principal actors involved in it as the solo director track can get kind of dry at times. The remaining extras, including the random “Get Rated” tidbit tagged onto the film after the credits roll, are all pretty forgettable which, sadly, goes for the blooper reel as well.
Overall worth a Rental unless you already like the cast in which case you may just want to pick it up. I’m really looking forward to seeing T.J. Miller in more stuff as he is one seriously funny guy…thankfully he already seems to be moving up in the world when it comes to roles in comedic films.
She’s Out of My League arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on June 22nd.