HTF REVIEW: Why Did I Get Married? (1 Viewer)

WHY DID I GET MARRIED?


Distributor: Lionsgate/Maple Pictures
Original Release: 2007
Run Time: 118 minutes
Genre: Comedy/Drama

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 widescreen enhanced
Colour/B&W: Colour

Audio Formats:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Subtitles: English, Spanish
Rating: PG-13






Release Date: February 12, 2008.

Film Rating: :star: :star: :star: :star: / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:


Starring: Tyler Perry (Terry), Sharon Leal (Diane), Janet Jackson (Patricia), Malik Yoba (Gavin), Jill Scott (Sheila), Richard T. Jones (Mike), Tasha Smith (Angela), Michael Jai White (Marcus), Denise Boutte (Trina)

Written by: Tyler Perry
Directed by: Tyler Perry


…Because no one inspires me more.


This is the second Tyler Perry film I’ve had the opportunity to review for Home Theater Forum. The first, Daddy’s Little Girls, was released on Blu-ray back in June 2007. I gave it a positive review for content (story) and A/V quality. So when Why Did I Get Married? arrived, I was eager to put the disc in my player at my quickest opportunity, not only because of Perry’s reputation for delivering a quality script to the screen without unnecessary jargon and glamour, but because the themes of the film are of things a wider audience can relate to.

Why Did I Get Married? focusses on the relationships of four very different couples who are friends. They have an annual getaway to enjoy time from the working world and to focus on their friendships and, well…their marriages. But marriage isn’t as easy as it seems for these couples. Work gets in the way of love life. No sex. Infidelity, or the thought of. Lack of trust. Egocentrism. Selfishness. The film isolates very few viewers, as these are all hurdles many couples are faced with during their marriage. There are even lessons to be learned for those single people out there.

This film doesn’t intend to deliver solutions to any of the problems presented, but rather address the issues of life after the honeymoon and to reflect on marriage as a compromise between the two people who have committed their lives to each other. Did I like the film? Absolutely. From what I’ve seen, this is two for two for Tyler Perry.


VIDEO QUALITY: 3/5 :star: :star: :star:

The video quality is disappointing for DVD. While not terribly bad, this new production is not stellar by any means. I raised an eyebrow when the DVD menu first appeared. The text is blurred and my immediate reaction was to check the focus on my projector just to make sure no one fiddled around with it when I haven’t been in the room. Nope, not the problem, but maybe things will get better when the movie begins. …not really the case either. So I was graced with a soft image that is screaming for more resolution on the DVD format. I’ve seen much better and much cleaner presentations that what’s presented here. Some edge outlining is present and compression artefacts can be a bit troublesome on a 110” screen – a size that pushes the boundaries for NTSC material at my close seating distance. So I referenced it on a 27” CRT and of course those problems were there nonetheless, just to a smaller degree.

The film is shot in a variety of interiors and exteriors of the mountainous Canadian province of British Columbia to mimic those in Colorado. The picture is pleasant in contrast/brightness/deep blacks, etc. Where the image is problematic is in its colour fidelity. The image has been tinkered to look much too warm for my liking. Skin tones of both black and white cast members are tinted orange. It looks wrong…very wrong. The filmmakers may have decided on warm interiors, but when a black man looks Asian, something ain’t right. I’m not even going to start to pick out certain scenes because this is almost universal scene to scene. What a pity. If a Blu-ray release ever happens, it would be nice to see warm tint backed off a bit…but who am I to criticize the art anyway?

The aspect ratio appears closer to 1.78:1 than its intended 1.85:1.


AUDIO QUALITY: 3/5 :star: :star: :star:

This 5.1 soundtrack, encoded with Dolby Digital, just squeezes by with an above passing grade. There is nothing technically wrong with it; it just has a boring sound design. It’s dialogue driven, but it fails to create ambiance based on the environment the scene takes place in. Very little seems to happen in the left and right main channels unless it’s music. Ambient noise is very subtle and hardly immersive putting a lot of weight on the center channel. The recording quality is decent, though. It’s warm and dialogue doesn’t sound strident, thin, or thick. It’s just right (but without much spatial integration). I would prefer a little more activity, but it seems the focus of the film is more on the story rather than creating an experience.

TACTILE FUN!! ZERO / :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
TACTILE TRANSDUCER ON/OFF?: OFF

Nothing!


SPECIAL FEATURES: 1/5 :star:

Three featurettes can be found here, all widescreen enhanced:

Janet Jackson: Return of an Icon - (6.37) explores Jackson’s return to the big screen as well as the crew’s reaction of having a star of her caliber working with them.

Reflections on Getting Married - (6.59) The cast and crew discuss marriage to their personal lives, not in any great detail, but just to the degree that all people on the set have been married at one time or another and can relate to some of these issues.

The Music of Married - (8.33) At the Barbra Streisand recording stage, this short looks at the 80 or so musicians who contributed to the 35 minutes of orchestra in the score.


IN THE END...

With Tyler Perry’s undeniable talent in writing and directing films, Why Did I Get Married? will surely please most viewers. It’s funny, heartwarming, stressful, and exhilarating. Check it out; you won’t be disappointed.

Michael Osadciw
February 17, 2008.

Review System


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