2016 brought us five films that featured Anna Kendrick. 2017 finds her on a slower schedule, with “only” two flicks set to appear, the first of which comes from a romantic dramedy called Table 19.

Eloise McGarry (Kendrick) gets the gig as maid of honor at Francie Millner’s (Rya Meyers) wedding. However, Eloise’s boyfriend Teddy (Wyatt Russell) – Francie’s brother and the best man – dumps her, so Eloise resigns her official duties.

Determined to maintain her dignity, Eloise decides to attend the wedding anyway. Francie and company don’t much like this decision, so they relegate her to “Table 19”, a location in the hinterlands of the ballroom where she gets stuck with other unwanted parties. Eloise finds herself immersed in the situation, with unusual results.

As an actor, Kendrick has become a reliable source of charm, albeit one who doesn’t do much to stretch her talents. Though the movie takes a more dramatic turn than I would’ve initially anticipated, it still requires Kendrick to do little more than be cute, earnest and mildly quirky, traits she pulls off with ease.

The cast of Table 19 becomes by far its strongest element, as the film comes packed with talents. In addition to Kendrick, we find Craig Robinson, Lisa Kudrow, Stephen Merchant, June Squibb and others, all of whom add a little zest to the proceedings.

But not much, as the film plods far too much for the actors to redeem it. I do like the basic premise of Table 19, as I think the decision to set the story almost entirely at the wedding reception shows promise. This notion gives the affair an interesting way to concentrate the action and development.

Unfortunately, Table 19 squanders its potential and delivers little more than sappy melodrama. Sure, it tosses in occasional bits of humor in an attempt to prevent a relentless mope-fest, but most of the film focuses on character drama, and those moments don’t work.

Part of the problem comes from the filmmakers’ relentless desire to undercut the rom-com standard. While Table 19 flirts with traditional elements – such as a handsome wedding crasher who woos Eloise - it takes self-conscious detours to subvert these choices.

Do these make Table 19 more creative than the usual rom-com? Yes, but they don’t turn it into anything more satisfying, mainly due to the absence of real character depth. The narrative spreads itself too thin to cover all the residents of Table 19, and we don’t really come to care about any of them.

I never thought I’d wish that a semi-ambitious story went for a more pat romantic-comedy vibe, but that becomes the case with Table 19. The film just fails to find a groove and it winds up as a mopey, self-conscious slog.

Table 19 appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a satisfactory presentation.

Overall sharpness seemed solid. A couple of wide shots looked a smidgen soft, but those were the exception to the rule, as the majority of the flick was accurate and detailed. No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I noticed no edge haloes. Source flaws were absent, as the movie looked consistently clean.

Like most films of this sort, Table 19 gave us an amber-tinted palette. Some teal appeared as well, but the golden feel dominated. Within those parameters, the hues were positive. Blacks seemed deep and dark, while shadows showed good smoothness and clarity. I felt happy with the transfer.

As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Table 19, it lacked a ton of ambition. The soundfield focused on music and ambience, though it opened up on occasion, mainly in terms of party atmosphere. Nothing especially memorable occurred, though.

Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise, without edginess or other issues. Music offered good clarity and range, and effects worked well enough. They didn’t have much to do, but they appeared reasonably accurate. All of this ended up as a perfectly satisfactory soundtrack for this sort of movie.

Four Deleted Scenes fill a total of eight minutes, 12 seconds. We find “Carol Millner Kills It” (1:44), “Cousin Donny Toasts It” (2:35), “Infamous Kate Works It” (1:48) and “Table 19 Swings It” (2:05).

The first three simply extend wacky wedding moments, and none of them seem especially interesting. “Swings” offers a little more bonding among the residents of Table 19, but it seems unnecessary as we get enough of that material in the final flick.

We also get three Promotional Featurettes: “Table of Rejects” (1:42), “Head of the Table” (2:21) and “Table for Six” (2:04). Across these, we hear from producer Shawn Levy, writer/director Jeffrey Blitz, and actors Anna Kendrick, June Squibb, Stephen Merchant, Craig Robinson, Tony Revolori and Lisa Kudrow.

The clips look at story/characters and cast/performances. Other than a few glimpses of alternate/deleted scenes, they’re forgettable.

Next comes a Gallery. This presents 29 production photos and becomes a mediocre compilation.

The disc opens with ads for Snatched, Why Him? and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. Sneak Peek adds promos for This Beautiful Fantastic, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie and Keeping Up With the Joneses. We also get the trailer for Table 19.

A second disc presents a DVD copy of Table 19. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.

On the surface, the manner in which Table 19 subverts romantic-comedy expectations seems like a good choice, one abetted by an excellent cast. Unfortunately, the movie goes to such dreary extremes that it turns into a dull drag. The Blu-ray brings us very good picture with mediocre audio and minor bonus materials. Not much about the film works.