Plot: What’s it about?
I’d not heard a lot about this movie before, and even when, it came out. I’m a fan of the two leads: Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie (for different reasons). Having no antecedent, the film was an original creation by Seth Reiss. He might be looking for a new line of work after this. Then again, he did get a movie made from his work, so what do I know? At any rate, taking two of Hollywood’s A-listers and putting them in a Romantic Comedy is a bold move, pardon the pun of course. I try to go into films like this with the “less is more” attitude and it’s a good thing I did, otherwise I’d have not made it through all 109 grueling minutes. Are you hyped yet? No? Regardless, let’s get started…
We meet David (Colin Farrell) who’s heading to a wedding. But when he discovers his car isn’t working, he notices a flyer on a building that advertises an emergency car rental service. How coincidental. There he meets two employees: (Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Kevin Kline) that have all of two cars to choose from. David makes it to the wedding where he meets Sarah (Margot Robbie), someone who immediately proposes to him after telling him how she treats the men she dates. The car’s GPS then asks them if they want to go on “a big bold beautiful adventure” to which they agree. I mean, they kind of have to since it’s the title of the film. The car then takes them off a series of adventures to a different period in their lives. He’s a teenager, she’s in a museum and so on. We don’t know why this is happening. We don’t know how or why these magical doors work or why they’re not scared out of their minds that this is happening. Suspension of disbelief takes on a whole new meaning (to us and them).
As I alluded to above, I have no idea what led these two to star in this film. And I wasn’t really in any hurry to try and find out. I suppose, on paper, the premise is reasonable enough, but given that not a lot is explained and we’re just supposed to believe what we’re seeing…OK? It’s just that the film doesn’t really establish any series of “rules” that we’re adhering to. The film tends to take some things away from a much better movie – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In that we knew how the “magical” aspect of the movie worked and that, in turn, gave us a much more satisfying film. We don’t have that luxury here. Yes, Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell are both talented performers, but they’ve both done far better work. This isn’t the high point of their careers. I often try to find some semblance of redemption in anything I watch, but skip this one.
Video: How’s it look?
There’s no shortage of visual goodies stuffed within this film, even looking at the cover art would tell one that. Still, if you can put the plot (or lack thereof) behind you and just focus on what’s on screen, it’s not that bad. There’s a very surreal quality to the film and it’s epitomized in several of the “scenes” (for lack of a better term). Sony’s 2.00:1 AVC HD encode leaves nothing to the imagination and our two stars aren’t exactly hard on the eyes. Contrast is strong, colors are – wait for it – bold and detail is tack sharp. For what the film lacks in its storytelling department, it more than makes up for visually.
Audio: How’s it sound?
Farrell is Irish and Robbie is Australian. At least I think she is. Nevertheless, the film’s DTS HD Master Audio mix certainly does its part and the result isn’t half bad. Given the genre (I’m labeling it as a romantic comedy), there wasn’t too much that I was expecting and apart from their musical number “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”, there wasn’t a lot to write home about. Vocals are spot on, surrounds are active (as much as they can be, anyway) and I had a very “shrugging my shoulders” feeling when all was said and done. It’s good, but nothing memorable.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Love’s Ever-Shifting Landscape: A Relatable Romance – The obligatory “Making of…” EPK with everything that we’d expect with words from the cast and crew as well as “what drew them to their roles” and so forth. We’ve seen it all before.
- The Magic Behind the Scenes: Crafting the Journey – We get some sound bytes from the stars as well as some behind the scenes footage as they try to justify their roles.
- A Big Bold Beautiful Music Number – Pretty self-explanatory as we see some more from the “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” bit.
The Bottom Line
The trailers make this look good. It’s not. There’s no shortage of talent and I have no idea why Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell chose to to this movie. Maybe they wanted to work with one another. Maybe they’re both looking for new agents. They’ll survive. And it’s frustrating that they probably made more from this one film than I’ll ever make in my entire life. Oh well. If this movie is your thing, good for you. If not, there are others. Sony’s disc is reference-quality – as expected.
