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UNIVERSAL

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Sam Milman and Peter Vass
Cast:
KSI, Caspar Lee, Madison Iseman, Josh Leyva
Writing Credits:
Sam Milman and Peter Vass

Synopsis:
Two foreign exchange high-school students are kidnapped during their quest to get laid on their last night in America.

MPAA:
Rated R.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 2.44:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
English Descriptive Audio
Subtitles:
English
French
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English
French

Runtime: 86 min.
Price: $19.99
Release Date: 10/4/2016


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


Laid in America [Blu-Ray] (2016)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (October 4, 2016)

Words I never thought I’d see used to promote a movie: “YouTube superstar”. I guess that’s a big deal, as apparently someone who calls himself “KSI” earned enough of a following online to earn a lead role in 2016’s Laid in America. At least it’s not that idiot PewDiePie – that’s gotta count for something.

Foreign exchange students Jack (Caspar Lee) and Duncan (KSI) have only a short period left in America before they head home. On their final day in the USA, they find themselves desperate to lose their virginity or else they’ll feel like losers.

On a dating app, Jack and Duncan pass themselves off as wealthy guys to meet sexy Amber (Angela Trimbur). This ends poorly, as she drugs and kidnaps them for her gangster-wannabe boyfriend Goose (Bobby Lee). The boys need to escape this situation and find a way to a big party so they can fulfill their sexual destinies.

Yeesh. I don’t know if I need to write anything else about Laid other than that one word: yeesh.

I guess I need to churn out something more substantial, though – how about “double-yeesh”? I’m not sure Laid deserves more discussion than basic dismissal, as it offers a thoroughly terrible attempt at comedy.

Sure, I can think of worse films, but Laid resides much closer to the bottom of cinematic history than to the top – or the middle. Thoroughly crass, unoriginal and unfunny, the movie lacks any form of entertainment value.

Going into Laid, I expected something in the American Pie vein. Instead, the movie opts for the “one wild night” theme found in flicks like Superbad.

While I’m not wild about that genre, it can deliver entertainment. You wouldn’t know this from Laid, though, as it uses the framework to try to obscure its flaws.

We leap from one unconnected sequence to another, and in theory, the nature of the story excuses the disjointed progression. This doesn’t work, though, as the segments feel so tangential that the movie creates no flow.

Instead, we’re stuck with one unfunny sketch piece after another. Nothing meshes or seems natural – characters feel like they’re from different universes and we never get into any kind of a groove.

The actors fail to achieve anything with their characters. KSI does little more than yell and gesticulate, while Lee simply looks sad/pouty a lot. The supporting performers tend to overact, as they desperately attempt to sell the terrible material.

It doesn’t work, and a healthy dollop of cheap stereotypes doesn’t help. Laid in America ends up as a lazy, witless attempt at comedy.


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

Laid in America appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.44:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The image seemed surprisingly bland.

Sharpness became the most significant drawback. Much of the film showed reasonably good delineation, but an awful lot of it seemed oddly tentative. The movie never became truly soft, but it lacked real detail. No issues with jaggies or moiré effects emerged, and I saw no edge haloes or print flaws.

Colors tended toward a fairly natural palette. The colors looked pretty solid, as they showed good range. Blacks appeared reasonably dark and dense, while shadows appeared clear enough. Much of the transfer worked fine, but the inconsistencies in terms of sharpness left it as a “C+”.

Don’t expect much from the film’s ordinary DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. Music made the most active use of the soundfield, as those elements emanated from the various channels on a consistent basis.

Effects became a less dominant aspect of the soundscape, as the movie went with general atmosphere and not a lot else. A few scenes – like those on the street – gave us a little information, but this remained a largely ordinary soundfield.

Audio quality seemed fine. Music was full and dynamic, while effects appeared accurate. Speech seemed concise and natural. This wasn’t a bad soundtrack, but it seemed lackluster.

Only one bonus feature appears here: a 58-minute, 24-second documentary called The Making of Laid in America. It includes comments from writers/directors Peter Vass and Sam Millman, producer Max Gottlieb, executive producer Adam Margules, DP Akis Konstantakopoulos, and actors KSI, Caspar Lee, Bobby Lee, Angela Trimbur, Tennessee Luke, Daved Wilkins, Whitney Rice, Madison Iseman, Josh Leyva, Syd Wilder, and Jorge Munoz. We learn about cast and performances, sets and locations, story and characters, stunts, cinematography, and general observations.

Essentially “Making” gives us a production diary, as it goes through the shoot in sequence. Not a whole lot of substance occurs, but we still find a decent overview, with a lot of footage from the set.

The disc opens with an ad for Popstar. No trailer for Laid appears here.

Should one expect great comedy from a straight-to-video comedy that stars a “YouTube superstar”? Nope - Laid in America offers a completely unfunny dud of a movie. The Blu-ray brings us acceptable audio, erratic visuals and a decent behind the scenes program. If you like the film’s actors, stick with YouTube videos and skip this terrible effort.

Viewer Film Ratings: 1 Stars Number of Votes: 2
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Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main