Failure to Launch
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FAILURE TO LAUNCH
BLU-RAY
Studio: Paramount
Film Year: 2006
Film Length: 96 minutes
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Aspect Ratio:
• 2.35:1 theatrical ratio
Colour/B&W: Colour
Audio:
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Film Rating: PG-13
Release Date: April 24, 2007.
Rating: 3/5
With: Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper, Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates
Written by: Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember
Directed by: Tom Dey
FAILURE TO LAUNCH is a relentlessly perky romantic comedy centered on the idea of getting a thirtysomething slacker to finally move out of his parents’ house. Matthew McConaughey stars as the slacker in question, and Sarah Jessica Parker co-stars as the specialist his parents hire to motivate his departure. It’s a cute idea, but there just isn’t any substance to it. In the first place, it’s hard to believe McConaughey could even be in this situation. In the second, there really isn’t any chemistry generated between the leads – they’re both appealing but they really don’t seem to be making any connection with each other. Finally, the script and direction keep everything so light and fluffy it’s hard to keep much interest in it. There are a couple of scenes late in the film that have some guts to them, but the majority of the film reads like an extended sitcom. A B-story involving Zooey Deschanel provides most of the laughs here, but even that peters out by the film’s conclusion.
Paramount released this film on standard DVD last June. On April 24 of this year, high definition discs were released both in HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. The Blu-Ray edition features a solid 1080p transfer with a 640k 5.1 soundtrack in English, Spanish or French. All of the extras found on the standard release can be found on the Blu-Ray disc, but the only extra in high definition is the film’s trailer, which is only at 1080i.
VIDEO QUALITY: 4/5
FAILURE TO LAUNCH sports a fine 1080p transfer, and it's really the one element of this release that sets it apart from the earlier standard definition DVD. There is a good range of colors and details on display throughout – and it’s a pleasure to see them rendered in a transfer this good. The only issue that comes to mind is that while the flesh tones are quite accurate throughout, the additional detail magnifies a problem with Sarah Jessica Parker’s look for the film. While Matthew McConaughey sports a realistic tan (which makes sense given his occupation of boating and boat sales), Parker has a tan that at various points in the film increases to an uncomfortable level. (It’s not quite in Oompa-Loompa territory, but it doesn’t look natural at all.) The higher resolution of this transfer brings this out more clearly than a standard transfer will reveal. However, that is an issue with the film itself – not the 1080p transfer, which, to be honest, is the one reason to pick up this disc.
AUDIO QUALITY: 3/5
FAILURE TO LAUNCH has a 640k 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack in English, French or Spanish. There isn’t a lot of use of the surround channels, other than for music or the occasional atmospheric effects. Given that the movie really centers on the dialogue between the cast, there isn’t a lot for the soundtrack to do here. That said, it’s a clear track that is easy to understand.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 2/5
All of the extras included on the standard DVD have been ported over for this release. Subtitles are available for the film and the extras in English, French and Spanish. Also, the feature film itself includes the standard pop-up menus as you watch the movie, as well as the standard scene index with plenty of chapter stops.
• Casting off: The Making of Failure to Launch – (11:40) A standard definition non-anamorphic featurette on the making of the film is included from the original release. It’s the usual array of interview snippets with the cast, director and writers intercut with clips from the film. It’s actually fluffier than the movie itself, something I hadn’t thought was possible…
• The Failure to Launch Phenomenon – (11:22) This is a standard definition, non anamorphic featurette examining the real situations that inspired the film. This is a bit uncomfortable – in that it’s hard to watch interviews with people who are still living in their parents’ houses even into their late 30’s. If anything, the featurette establishes that most people who do this could never be mistaken for Matthew McConaughey.
• Dating in the New Millennium – (6:55) A standard definition, non-anamorphic featurette about modern dating services is included here. In some ways, this featurette almost reads as an infomercial for the various services mentioned in the featurette.
• Moviefone.com Unscripted with Matthew McConaughey and Terry Bradshaw (13:37) A brief mutual interview between McConaughey and Bradshaw is included here from the original release. Again, this is standard definition and non-anamorphic. This is the most interesting of the featurettes, as it allows the guys to have an unscripted conversation about their experience of making the film. The conversation drifts off topic to more interesting areas – McConaughey talks about being elated to be at the Longhorns victory a year back, and Bradshaw admits to being a handful to deal with onset. As they get into the last few minutes of their talk, it is interesting to see a caption come up on their teleprompter giving them their WRAP UP notes – this is a none-too-subtle method of telling someone TIME’S UP…
• The Failure To Launch Contest – (5:57) This is a brief standard definition, non-anamorphic video announcing the winner of the promotional contest sponsored by Paramount and MySpace. Essentially, three finalists are presented by supporting cast members Bradley Cooper and Justin Bartha, and one of the finalists gets picked to have 6 months of rent paid for in a new apartment that is not in the parents’ house. Like the earlier featurette about this situation in reality, this one also comes across as pretty uncomfortable.
• Theatrical Trailer – (2:32) A 1080i 16x9 transfer of the theatrical trailer is included here. It is not at the full 2.35:1 ratio – more like 1.78:1, but it is the only special feature for the film that is in HD. Of course, it’s not in the full 1080p, but it looks fine nonetheless.
A generic Paramount Blu-Ray trailer is also included when you first activate the disc. It can be accessed again through the “Previews” button in the features menu, if you need to see it again.
IN THE END...
FAILURE TO LAUNCH is a fairly light (and light-hearted) confection of a movie, which may appeal to fans of Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker. As a date movie, it’s pretty innocuous. As for the Blu-Ray disc – the primary reason to see it is for the 1080p transfer, which is a pleasure to behold. If you have not seen the film before, you may wish to rent this before purchasing it.
Kevin Koster
May 5, 2007.
