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The Movie:
"Someone Like You" is a cute little picture. It's not particularly ambitious, it's rather predictable and cliched and its characters and their relationships are not exceptionally developed. Yet, it's light, occasionally funny and contains some spirited performances. The film is based on Laura Zigman's best-selling novel, "Animal Husbandry", which the film was originally going to be called before going with the more generic title.
The film stars Ashley Judd as Jane Goodale(not the one that you're thinking of), a staffer on a daytime talk/news show. There's several other staffers, but the only supporting players that we focus on are Eddie (Hugh Jackman of "X-Men") and Ray(Greg Kinnear). Jane gets a crush on the already spoken-for Ray and soon, the two are discussing their thoughts on moving in with one another, despite the warnings of Jane's friend Liz (Marisa Tomei).
As it turns out, Liz is right. Ray suddenly backs away from the relationship, but the biggest problem is that, in the meantime, Jane has lost her place to live. So now, she's not only without love, but she's without a place to stay. Plus, it creates a rather frosty work environment. Things are made a bit better though, when Eddie steps in. A love-'em and leave-'em kinda guy, Eddie and Jane are polar opposites who playfully disgust and bicker with one another.
As with almost every single romantic comedy in recent memory, we're so far ahead of the picture that we're at the ending mere moments after the picture begins. Although I won't give away the rather obvious final results, let me give credit to the actors for getting me involved enough in the proceedings to care to follow them on the journey to the obvious. Jackman's performance is particularly witty, sharp, cynical and amusing. Judd lights up the screen with a gorgeous smile and a charming, fun performance. Kinnear, on the other hand, simply seems to be tossed in for another unenergetic spin around the same character he's played many times before.
As the film turns into its second half, it follows Jane as she researches the similarities between the actions of men and animals in terms of how they treat the opposite sex, as well as the popularity of her "findings". These observations are certainly nothing new and it's here that the film starts to drag a bit, but I liked how the reasons why she searched out these theories are resolved later in the film. And overall, the film itself really doesn't wear out its welcome that much. At 97 minutes, it zips by nicely.
Yet, putting concerns aside, the movie managed to work for me. Judd's performance is sweet and sympathetic; she carries the movie on her shoulders nicely. Supporting performances from Jackman, Tomei and Ellen Barkin are also enjoyable. "Someone Like You" may have a genertic title and many of the usual "romantic" plot devices, but it's the performances that lift the movie above average and into something flawed, but still moderately charming.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Someone Like You" is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen by 20th Century Fox. Although the presentation won't go down as one of the best from the studio, there are certainly more positives than negatives. Anthony Richmond ("Men Of Honor", "Legally Blonde")'s cinematography captures the beautiful outdoor scenery of New York City quite well. These scenes are crisp, highly detailed and often offer fine depth to the image. The interior sequences, while fine looking, occasionally seem the tiniest bit murky and soft.
I noticed few flaws with the transfer. Print flaws are almost completely absent from the presentation. I noticed a couple of etremely infrequent speckles, but saw no evidence of marks, scratches or other wear. I didn't notice pixelation either, but I did see a few minor instances of edge enhancement. Although there were a few minor problems, I wasn't distracted by them.
Colors looked great throughout the movie, appearing bright, vibrant and natural. Colors appeared well-saturated and warm, with no problems that I saw. Flesh tones also looked especially accurate and natural, as well. A very nice presentation from Fox.
SOUND: "Someone Like You" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Although it certainly isn't an agressive audio presentation, it at least doesn't do what I hate about romantic comedies sound-wise. A lot of big city romantic comedies skimp on the ambient sounds and present their characters in an universe where cars apparently don't make noise and the busy streets are quiet. "Someone Like You" doesn't provide heavily detailed ambient sounds, but I was pleased to at least hear subtle sounds occasionally from the surrounds. When the surrounds aren't providing sounds of the environment, they're offering the film's score. Sound quality remained pleasant throughout the movie, with the score sounding warm and rich, while dialogue sounded clear and natural.
MENUS:: Cute animated main menu that's based around the set of the show that Judd's character works on.
EXTRAS::
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Tony Goldwyn, who has been an actor in several recent pictures and has directed once before (1999's "A Walk On The Moon"). The director does seem slightly nervous during the opening moments, but throughout the commentary, he does manage to do a fine job covering all the bases of the film itself. He talks in-depth about the production, as well as how he first came in contact with the story. Also, in terms of story, the director discussed the differences between the novel and film once or twice. Being an actor himself, I found his comments about how he likes to work with actors interesting. Although he does often praise the actors in the film, I was pleased that he didn't keep going on and on about how wonderful everyone was. I also enjoyed the fact that his discussion doesn't simply tell us what's happening on-screen, nor does it have many lengthy pauses of silence. A very good commentary.
Deleted Scenes: Seven deleted scenes as well as an alternate ending are presented with commentary by director Goldwyn. These scenes were dropped mainly, because they were either wrong in tone or took away from the pace of the movie.
Trailers/TV Spots: The film's theatrical trailer and 5 TV spots.
Also: A 4 1/2 minute featurette that's purely promotional.
Final Thoughts: I'm still a bit mixed on "Someone Like You", but the movie has enough cute and mildly clever moments to lightly recommend. Fox's DVD also presents solid audio/video and supplements. Fans of the movie will certainly be pleased with the DVD - for those who haven't seen it, but are interested, it's worth picking up (especially if it's date night) as a rental.
Film Grade
The Film ***
DVD Grades
Video 90/A- = (368/400 possible points)
Audio: 87/B = (352/400 possible points)
Extras: 83/B = (249/300 possible points)
Menus: 83/B = (166/200 possible points)
Value: 83/B = (249/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1384/1600
DVD GRADE:B/86%
FILM GRADE: ***
DVD GRADE: B
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