Without a Paddle (Blu-ray)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

Armed with the carefully plotted map that Billy compiled before his death, our three Indy wannabes travel into the Oregon backcountry and as part of any movie's ritual, entangle themselves in the usual misadventures--encounter with a marauding bear, tumbling through churning class-5 white water rapids, run-in with two psychopathic pot farmers--and also the not-so-common sight of running into a pair of sexy, hippie-like tree huggers who has built themselves a cozy tree house sanctuary (yeah right!) in the middle of the forest. Also look out for a surprise guest star who plays a crazy old kook who has been living in the forest for decades, whom the guys meet up while huddling together in order to keep warm inside a cave during a heavy downpour (I'm sure many of you have watched this scene over and over during heavy rotation of the film's trailer).

Now, I will be the first to admit that the main characters in this movie are not really very original. We've probably met them all before in many other films in the comedy genre. For instance, take Dan, who, even though is a successful doctor, has no shred of confidence in dealing with anyone on a social level. Dan is sort of a good guy geek who is sickly, gets pushed around by everyone and can't even get a date with his own nurse. Then there's the reckless and smart-mouthed Tom (essentially an anti-Dan), who has never been able to hold down a job or even say anything without lying. For example, to persuade his friends to go on this impulsive quest, Tom leads them to believe that he is an experienced Californian river guide. As for Jerry, he is more of a middle-ground character, unlike the extreme opposites like Dan and Tom. However, Jerry suffers from the common male ailment of commitment-phobia, a situation than can normally be found in any comedy. However, it is the seamless bonding between our three main actors and the abundant energy demonstrated by them that gives "Without A Paddle" an edge over your usual run-of-the-mill comedies. The audience will instantly believe that these guys have been great friends forever and their quest, however misguided, is actually a journey that will test their friendship and somehow challenge them to better themselves in many ways. I know all these may sound corny on some level but some comedies are actually not just empty shells full of fart jokes. In fact, the many gags, both physical and spoken, and the hilarious situations that these guys get themselves entwined in only makes the journey so much more enjoyable to watch.

Some might complain about the many homophobic jokes in this movie, but let's face it, this is actually a very common state of affairs in any male-dominated social setting. On some levels of friendship, guys are basically cruel to each other and may resort to alluding to the fact that their friend is somehow a homosexual. However, one must understand that at the end of the day, it is all for fun and should only be taken that way, instead of getting too uptight about being non-PC. Also, by making use of some highly appropriate music from Culture Club, .38 Special and even R Kelly, whose song "Bump 'n Grind" sets up the cave scene I described earlier so nicely, "Without A Paddle" is able to give new life to songs that, as the joke goes, contain homosexual connotations. Hey, if we can't even laugh at ourselves, then the world would be a sad place indeed. So lighten up!

While "Without A Paddle" is certainly not the best comedy film I ever seen, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I've always been a fan of Seth Green and here, he is again in his element. Although this film is fairly predictable (name me a film in any genre that isn't at least partly predictable?), there is a certain charm to how the characters interact and play off one another's comedic talents. If you are looking for some laughs on a dreary night, then a rental of this movie will be just the right antidote.

Hock's film rating: 6/10

Video:
It's hard to complain about Paramount spreading the movie over a dual-layer BD50 or using an MPEG-4/AVC codec to transfer the 2.35:1-ratio film to disc. The results are pretty good, except for the opening title credits, which the filmmakers intended to look like home movies. Colors are radiant; definition is reasonably good, even if facial details tend to be too smoothed over; and there's a touch of natural grain, just a touch, to provide a small degree of texture to the image.

Audio:
I had a bit of a problem with the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. During several scenes I found the synchronization of words and lips was off. I switched to the commentary track, which is in Dolby Digital stereo, and it worked fine. Then, thinking it might be my Panasonic BD50 player, I threw in a couple of other Blu-ray discs with TrueHD tracks, and they worked fine. But when I replayed the same offending moments in "Without a Paddle," voices were still out of sync. I dunno. Anyway, the problem quickly went away as the movie progressed, only to reappear later on. Odd, and something I've never experienced before.

When the TrueHD was behaving itself, it was OK, although there isn't a lot going on in it. Dynamics are adequate; bass can be impressive when called upon; and the rear and surround channels come to life during a few big action scenes and during a rain storm. Otherwise, you get a polished midrange response with decent front-channel stereo and clear, clean dialogue.

Extras:
For bonus items we get the same things we've all seen or heard before. Nevertheless, they may be more entertaining than the feature film. To begin, there's an audio commentary by director Steven Brill, who keeps up a steady stream of facts, memories, and anecdotes about the filmmaking. Next, there's a video commentary by the cast and director, a picture-in-picture affair that plays during the movie, with the participants sitting around chatting about the film. Then, there's "MTV's Making the Movie: Without a Paddle," an eighteen-minute, standard-def promotional fluff piece; followed by thirteen additional scenes with optional director's commentary, again in standard def, totaling about twenty-four minutes; and six MTV interstitials (teaser trailers) in standard def at about three minutes.

The extras wind down with a widescreen theatrical trailer that the keep case says is in HD but isn't; a mere fourteen scene selections; bookmarks; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.

Parting Shots:
Maybe the filmmakers should have called the picture "Without a Laugh." While there is nothing wholly offensive about it (if you can ignore the homophobic jokes Hock mentions), there is nothing in it of much value, either. It's just banal, vapid, and inane. Still, humor is where you find it, and different people will look at the same things and think them funny or not. For Hock, the film did its job. For me, not.