Plot: What’s it about?
It might be an odd premise, but if you could take a romantic comedy from the 90’s (or any decade, though we’ll go with the 90’s since that’s their heyday) and maybe throw a little bit of Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees in the mix, you might end up with Heart Eyes. That’s an interesting premise for a film and it’s often these sorts of films that either tank royally or we look back and say “I wonder why no one else thought of this earlier?” In these days of streaming, movies being released day and date on home platforms and whatnot, it’s kind of hard to tell what movie is really a “film” and what might be a studio trying to dump its lates and greatest on you. I realize that makes little sense, but when I first saw the trailer for this (and the subsequent home video release) I just rolled my eyes and moved on. But oddly my wife was watching this on some streaming service, so I decided to indulge her and this is the result.
We meet Ally (Olivia Holt), a Seattle native woh works at an advertising firm who’s on the verge of losing her job. It seems that a recent campaign she designed didn’t go so well and, as such, her boss brings in some help in the form of freelancer Jay (Mason Gooding). As fate would have it, he’s also a rather attractive lad and the two strike up a nice little thing. They meet up on Valentine’s Day to discuss “work” but discover they’ve got some chemistry between them as well. Conversely, there’s a masked psycho known as the “Heart Eyes Killer” who’s continuing his annual tradition of murdering couples on February 14. The killer mistakes Ally and Jay for an actual couple and begins to stalk them. This brings in two cops (Jordana Brewster and Devon Sawa) who try and capture said killer before too many innocents lose their lives.
In much the same way that a movie that pokes fun at a genre (think Scream – any of them) so too can a movie like this be fun. And it’s a family movie. It’s got something for everyone! Ok, maybe not. But taking a glossy romantic comedy and throwing in elements of a slasher flick is kind of fun in the same way that Happy Death Day did it with the Groundhog Day motif. See where I’m going with this? Creativity (I’m pointing my finger to my head as I type this). The thing with Heart Eyes, though, is that the allure wore off a bit quick with me. Maybe not so much with others, but I was like “Ok, that was fun, but c’mon let’s get to it.” And the movie and I were on different levels. It’s entertaining, to be sure, but I feel it’s a bit of a one trick pony. But don’t knock that – Hollywood is all about a one trick pony so long as it brings in the dollars.
Video: How’s it look?
This is more along the lines of “a story of two looks to the film.” The movie starts out with a very nice and breezy (and colorful) look and feel to it – think any romantic comedy you’ve seen…ever. But as we get involved into the inner-workings of the film, it quickly devolves into, you guessed it, a much darker and more sinister-looking film. The second part is where it takes off, giving us what we’d hoped for when the disc was put in the player. The 2.39: AVC HD image is everything we’d expect with stark, bold contrast some splashes of color and razor sharp detail. Consistent with most any day-and-date release, this one looks the part.
Audio: How’s it sound?
I’m sure if the filmmakers wanted to put together a Dolby Atmos sound mix, the could – easily. But that’s not really the point as the included DTS HD Master Audio mix does the job just fine. We get what we’d expect: outstanding vocals, a nice ambient mix that’s got a lot of rear channel activity complimented by a nice, robust front stage. In essence, it checks all the boxes and that’s all we could hope for.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Audio Commentary – I’ll be honest, I didn’t listen to this but it’s there if this movie is your thing and you feel the need to donate 97 minutes of your day to it.
- Murders & Meet Cutes: The Making of Heart Eyes – The obligatory “Making of…” featurette surfaces here with some behind the scenes footage as well as some quips from the cast and crew. Next…
- Gag Reel – Awww, they were laughing at scenes where people were dying. That’s hilarious!
- Deleted & Extended Scenes – Five total, though I can’t really imagine any of these would add a lot, if anything, to the film.
The Bottom Line
Truth be told, Heart Eyes really isn’t as bad as I thought it might be. If taken with a grain of salt (and a glass or two of wine), it’s actually fairly entertaining. Sony’s Blu-ray, as per usual, looks the part though the supplements are a bit on the slim side.
