Plot: What’s it about?
Randy Bodek (Patrick Dempsey) is off at college, forsaking his classes for parties, while his parents pick up the tab on his education. He tries to focus on the books, but he always winds up passed out drunk by the night’s end. He also has trouble with his girlfriend Jenny (Nancy Valen), who is tired of his antics and wants him to settle down. When a quiet night with Jenny gets turned into a wild, end of the semester bash, Randy finds himself dumped. To add to his woes, his father has refused to pay for any more of his tuition, thanks to his crazy lifestyle and lack of effort in his classes. This leaves Randy in an unusual position, as in order to go back to school, he must pick up his own bills. His first stop is Senor Pizza, a second rate pizza shack that pays a pittance and makes the workers don silly mustaches. He is frustrated to say the least, but his life takes a sudden turn when he meets a beautiful, older woman named Alex. She takes him in and showers him with gifts, and when she orders a pizza with extra anchovies, that is Randy’s code that she wants a special visit. She then passes the word on to her friends, who crave companionship or affection and before long, Randy is making numerous stops. Can he juggle his new loverboy status with his love for Jenny, or will it all blow up in his face?
Ah yes, another well worn 80s comedy has been released to DVD, with a new anamorphic widescreen treatment to boot. I am pleased to see this happen, as Columbia has issued several 80s classics in miserable full frame editions. So we can’t win them all, but at least for fans of Loverboy, the news is good here. The premise of a pizza delivery dude that supplies his customers with sexual satisfaction sounds more like porno material than romantic comedy material, but Loverboy pulls it off as only an 80s movie could. I wouldn’t call Loverboy a great movie, or even a good one, but it has some moments and is better than expected. If you’re a fan of 80s culture, you’ll have fun with this one and appreciate more of the material. But even to those clueless about the decade, Loverboy has more than mere nostalgia to offer. The humor works more than it fails, thanks to some colorful characters and well crafted dialogue. I also love the slapstick touches thrown in, which add more variance to the comic approach. In the lead is Patrick Dempsey, who starred in the 80s classic Can’t Buy Me Love, but now falls into the washed up section. The rest of the cast is better than you might think, with some well known women on the loverboy’s list. Columbia’s disc is bare bones, but for fans, this disc is still well worth the purchase.
Video: How does it look?
Loverboy is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Columbia has given us the finest home video treatment to date for this film, thanks to a clean, brand new anamorphic widescreen transfer. Aside from some normal, acceptable grain, this image is excellent and if you’re a longtime fan, this is how you’ve dreamed Real Genius could look. The image has superb detail levels and is sharper than I ever expected, with a cleaner print and less grain also. The colors have a natural, but bright appearance, while black levels seem rich and refined as well. A much better treatment than I expected, so kudos to Columbia on this one.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included 2.0 surround option is good and provides some solid moments, but in the end, the material holds back the audio presence. This is because while some scenes do spark the speakers, most scenes are dialogue driven and since the care wasn’t taken to mix in some subtle atmosphere, the scenes lack dynamic audio. Even so, the musical soundtrack comes across well and some scenes do have some presence, so this is not a totally lifeless track. The dialogue is clean and never muffled, so you won’t miss a single word here. This disc also includes subtitles in English and Spanish, should you need those.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes no bonus materials.
