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WARNER

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Ben Falcone
Cast:
Melissa McCarthy, Matt Walsh, Molly Gordon
Writing Credits:
Melissa McCarthy, Ben Falcone

Synopsis:
After her husband abruptly asks for a divorce, a middle-aged mother returns to college in order to complete her degree.

Box Office:
Opening Weekend
$17,886,075 on 3656 screens.
Domestic Gross
$52,793,246.

MPAA:
Rated PG-13

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
English Descriptive Audio
Latin Spanish Dolby 5.1
French Dolby 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Latin Spanish
French
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English
Latin Spanish
French

Runtime: 105 min.
Price: $35.99
Release Date: 8/7/2018

Bonus:
• “80s Party” Featurette
• “Mom Sandwich” Featurette
• Deleted Scenes
• 2 “Line-O-Rama” Collections
• Gag Reel
• Previews
• DVD Copy


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
-LG OLED65C6P 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV
-Marantz SR7010 9.2 Channel Full 4K Ultra HD AV Surround Receiver
-Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player
-Chane A2.4 Speakers
-SVS SB12-NSD 12" 400-watt Sealed Box Subwoofer


RELATED REVIEWS


Life of the Party [Blu-Ray] (2018)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (July 31, 2018)

A comedy reminiscent of 1986’s Back to School, 2018’s Life of the Party introduces us to Deanna Miles (Melissa McCarthy), a middle-aged housewife. When her husband Dan (Matt Walsh) declares a desire to divorce, she feels left adrift.

To help herself move forward, Deanna decides to complete the college degree she left unfinished in her youth. This sends her to Decatur University alongside her daughter Maddie (Molly Gordon), a senior who seems less than excited to watch her mom’s midlife crisis explode.

Ever since she became a star in the wake of 2011’s Bridesmaids, McCarthy has delivered fairly reliable returns at the box office. That said, she shows signs of waning success, as many of her movies have displayed a downward trajectory in terms of sales.

With one exception – 2013’s Identity Thief - all of the McCarthy’s lead roles come from movies directed either by Paul Feig or Ben Falcone. Of the three post-Bridesmaids McCarthy/Feig efforts, they’ve earned between $110 million and $159 million in the US.

As for the McCarthy/Falcone projects, they range from a high of $84 million for 2014’s Tammy to a low of $52 million for Party, with 2016’s The Boss in the middle. Maybe McCarthy needs to shun Falcone for Feig on a full-time basis, but that might cause havoc at home given that Melissa and Ben live as a married couple.

Neither Tammy nor The Boss did much for me, but I held out some hope Party might entertain. Hey, if the premise worked for Rodney Dangerfield, why couldn’t it succeed for McCarthy?

Apparently not. While McCarthy boasts talent as a comedic actor, she struggles to carry a movie on her own, and that becomes a drawback here.

Or perhaps this comes back to the Feig/Falcone split. For whatever reason, Feig seems able to get the best out of McCarthy, whereas Falcone can’t do much with her.

Maybe Falcone is too close to McCarthy to challenge her in the same way Feig does, and it may not help that McCarthy and Falcone wrote all three of their movies together. Perhaps their talents – or lack thereof – as screenwriters creates the steep decline in quality from the Feig flicks to the Falcones.

Whatever the cause, I know one thing for sure: Tammy and The Boss didn’t work, and Party becomes another dud. Its cast musters the occasional minor chuckle but the end product feels tedious and boring.

Party tends toward two kind of jokes: “mom on campus” gags or vagina wisecracks. Neither of these feel clever, and both get tiresome quickly.

Like Back to School, Party exists more as a concept than a narrative. Sure, it attempts some “self-realization” for Deanna, but for the most part, it just tries to generate laughs via its situations.

This succeeded in School because Dangerfield made it work, but as implied, McCarthy can’t carry the load. Burdened by a cliché-ridden script, she flails and doesn’t churn out much mirth.

It doesn’t help that the movie changes its characters almost at random to fit the different situations – especially poor Maddie. One minute she resents her mother’s presence on campus, and the next she’s super-happy about it.

Why does this happen? Because the crummy script says so – there’s no logic or organic purpose to the shift other than it suits the next series of lousy jokes.

Both Feig and Falcone tend to let their movies run too long, but at least Feig’s manage real entertainment. In the case of Party, scenes grind on interminably and threaten to never end.

No, superior editing wouldn’t save the film – and as a glimpse at the Blu-ray’s deleted scenes demonstrates, many of these segments originally lasted even longer, so maybe I should feel grateful Falcone trimmed them at all. Nonetheless, a lot of these sequences drone on well past the point of productivity and make an unfunny movie even more aggravating.

I’m not saying Melissa McCarthy should only work with Paul Feig, but… actually, I am saying that, as her comedies with others have been mediocre to poor. Life of the Party continues that trend and becomes a dull excuse for a comedy.


The Disc Grades: Picture B/ Audio B/ Bonus C

Life of the Party appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a largely good presentation but not a great one.

Sharpness was usually very nice, but some interiors tended toward moderate softness. Though this wasn’t a significant problem, I thought some shots came across as less defined than I expected.

Jagged edges and shimmering didn’t occur, and edge enhancement remained absent. Source flaws also failed to present any problems, as the movie offered a clean image.

In terms of colors, the film favored a general golden tint along with some light teal. The hues were solid within the design parameters.

Blacks seemed deep and tight, while shadows were good, with nice clarity and smoothness. Outside of the occasional soft shot, this became a pleasing presentation.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it seemed satisfactory, though it favored a fairly typical “comedy mix” and didn’t present many chances for the soundscape to do much. This meant the track usually opted for stereo music and general environmental material.

A few bits – like during a racquetball game or at parties – opened up the track in a decent manner. These made the mix vivid when necessary, though these instances didn’t pop up frequently.

I thought audio quality appeared positive. Speech seemed distinctive and natural, with no rough tones or other issues.

Score and songs displayed clear, warm music, and effects functioned well. Those elements were realistic and full throughout the movie. Again, nothing here dazzled, but the mix accentuated the action in a good way.

A smattering of extras appears, and we get two featurettes. 80s Party lasts four minutes, 51 seconds and offers notes from writer/director Ben Falcone, co-producer/actor Steve Mallory, and actors Adria Arjona, Debby Ryan, Gillian Jacobs, Molly Gordon, Yani Simone, Jimmy O. Yang, Luke Benward, and Jessie Ennis.

The show offers some basics about the “80s party” featured in the film. It’s fluffy and not very informative.

During the two-minute, 45-second Mom Sandwich, we hear from Falcone, writer/actor Melissa McCarthy and actor Jacki Weaver. We find out how McCarthy’s real-life parents inspired Deanna’s movie parents. It’s mildly entertaining.

17 Deleted Scenes fill a total of 46 minutes, 36 seconds. Most of these lean toward extended/alternate versions of existing sequences, so don’t expect much in terms of genuinely new material.

One also shouldn’t anticipate anything particularly interesting or amusing. A couple of bits seem moderately enjoyable – especially an extended cameo from a famous singer - but most of them seem forgettable, and a lot of them drag on way too long.

Two collections of alternate lines show up: Line-O-Rama (3:02) and Bill-Hate-O-Rama (2:44). A few amusing bits pop up along the way.

A Gag Reel runs five minutes, 25 seconds. It mixes the usual goofs/giggles with some alternate lines. This becomes a better than average compilation.

The disc opens with ads for Crazy Rich Asians, Ocean’s 8 and Ready Player One. No trailer for Party appears here.

A second disc presents a DVD copy of Party. It includes the “80s Party” featurette but lacks the other extras.

Maybe someday Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone will partner for a good movie, but Life of the Party becomes another dud. Though a couple of minor laughs arise, most of the film seems inane and random. The Blu-ray provides pretty positive picture and audio along with a decent set of supplements. Don’t expect much mirth from this tedious stab at comedy.

Viewer Film Ratings: 1 Stars Number of Votes: 1
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