No Reservations is not an entirely awful movie; it's just a dull one....
There are few laughs or smiles in "No Reservations" and little joy. In other words, there's not much sparkle in the movie and even less spark to the love story. If you're looking for chemistry here, you're in the wrong room. This is more like gym class with two opponents battling one another most of the time. In the movie's second half, food and little Miss Breslin come to the rescue, but by this time it's almost too late for the audience to notice.
"No Reservations" is not an entirely awful movie; it's just a dull one that can't make up its mind if it wants to be a romantic comedy, an outright comedy, a warmhearted romance, a drama, a melodrama, or some kind of slice of life. If it doesn't know what it is, how does it expect its audience to know? Or care?
Video:
Since this is an HD DVD and DVD Combo disc, we get a high-definition version of the movie on one side and a standard-definition version on the other. In a change of pace for Warner Bros., the studio present the film in two standard-def aspect ratios, the original 2.40:1 widescreen seen in theaters and a full-screen pan-and-scan that omits nearly half the image to the left and right of each frame. Since they offer both of these formats on the same SD side of the disc, you can guess that something had to suffer, and it appears to have been the bit rate. Although WB have been using a high bit rate on most of their releases for the past few years, they apparently didn't have space for anything more than an average bit rate this time out. The results show up in the transfer's slightly fuzzy definition, compensated for by fairly bright, natural colors (except in some facial tones, which come up a bit too dark). The anamorphic transfer is free of dirt or artifacts, with only a light, modest print grain in evidence. I have no complaints about the video quality, actually, although the picture never jumps off the screen or impresses one in any particular way.
On the HD DVD side, things improve, although not quite as much as I would have liked. There are still some minor jaggies and some faint highlighting if viewed closely. Colors are excellent for most everything except faces, which sometimes remain a touch too dark. The overall image is bright enough, although the high-def processing seems to emphasize the film's mild print grain, tending to make some scenes look slightly rough. Definition runs the gamut from soft to sharply focused, so when the picture is good, it is as good as anything you'll see, and when it's not, it is only ordinary.
Audio:
On the standard-def side of the disc, there is hardly anything to say good or bad about the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio reproduction because there is hardly anything the film calls upon it to do. It's quiet. The film is mainly dialogue, with a little background music, mostly classical but never too prominent. There is the barest touch of musical ambience enhancement in the rear channels. Otherwise, the sound is clean and well balanced, but, like the movie, innocuous.
On the high-def side, the Dolby Digital Plus is only marginally better. Yes, it is the barest touch clearer, but it is also mostly center-channel bound, and the front stereo opens up very little. For all intents and purposes, the soundtrack could be in monaural, albeit a good monaural.
Extras:
The only bonus item on the standard-definition side is a twenty-minute episode of the Food Network's "Unwrapped," with host Marc Summers interviewing the stars of "No Reservations" and the real chefs who created the movie's meals. Other than that, there are a few WB trailers at start-up only; twenty-four scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
On the HD side, you get an exclusive added bonus. It's a forty-two-minute featurette called "Emeril Live," in which, as the keep case says, "Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin join the celebrity chef in cooking dishes from the movie." If you like television cooking shows, you'll probably enjoy this item, which is in standard definition. The HD side also includes the "Unwrapped" segment from the SD side, along with pop-up menus, bookmarks, a zoom-and-pan feature, a guideline to elapsed time, the disc enclosed in an Elite Red HD case.
Parting Shots:
The major saving graces in "No Reservations" are the occasional Puccini, Verdi, and Flotow musical excerpts that play in the background and the movie's overall sincerity. Its weaknesses are its lackluster presence and its indecisive tone. On balance, no one wins or loses, making "No Reservations" at best an ordinary entry in the romantic or romantic-comedy or seriocomic movie genres, take your pick. Personally, I didn't find it romantic, I didn't find it funny, and I didn't find it dramatic, so my rating for its film value suffers accordingly.
"No Reservations" is not an entirely awful movie; it's just a dull one that can't make up its mind if it wants to be a romantic comedy, an outright comedy, a warmhearted romance, a drama, a melodrama, or some kind of slice of life. If it doesn't know what it is, how does it expect its audience to know? Or care?
Video:
Since this is an HD DVD and DVD Combo disc, we get a high-definition version of the movie on one side and a standard-definition version on the other. In a change of pace for Warner Bros., the studio present the film in two standard-def aspect ratios, the original 2.40:1 widescreen seen in theaters and a full-screen pan-and-scan that omits nearly half the image to the left and right of each frame. Since they offer both of these formats on the same SD side of the disc, you can guess that something had to suffer, and it appears to have been the bit rate. Although WB have been using a high bit rate on most of their releases for the past few years, they apparently didn't have space for anything more than an average bit rate this time out. The results show up in the transfer's slightly fuzzy definition, compensated for by fairly bright, natural colors (except in some facial tones, which come up a bit too dark). The anamorphic transfer is free of dirt or artifacts, with only a light, modest print grain in evidence. I have no complaints about the video quality, actually, although the picture never jumps off the screen or impresses one in any particular way.
On the HD DVD side, things improve, although not quite as much as I would have liked. There are still some minor jaggies and some faint highlighting if viewed closely. Colors are excellent for most everything except faces, which sometimes remain a touch too dark. The overall image is bright enough, although the high-def processing seems to emphasize the film's mild print grain, tending to make some scenes look slightly rough. Definition runs the gamut from soft to sharply focused, so when the picture is good, it is as good as anything you'll see, and when it's not, it is only ordinary.
Audio:
On the standard-def side of the disc, there is hardly anything to say good or bad about the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio reproduction because there is hardly anything the film calls upon it to do. It's quiet. The film is mainly dialogue, with a little background music, mostly classical but never too prominent. There is the barest touch of musical ambience enhancement in the rear channels. Otherwise, the sound is clean and well balanced, but, like the movie, innocuous.
On the high-def side, the Dolby Digital Plus is only marginally better. Yes, it is the barest touch clearer, but it is also mostly center-channel bound, and the front stereo opens up very little. For all intents and purposes, the soundtrack could be in monaural, albeit a good monaural.
Extras:
The only bonus item on the standard-definition side is a twenty-minute episode of the Food Network's "Unwrapped," with host Marc Summers interviewing the stars of "No Reservations" and the real chefs who created the movie's meals. Other than that, there are a few WB trailers at start-up only; twenty-four scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
On the HD side, you get an exclusive added bonus. It's a forty-two-minute featurette called "Emeril Live," in which, as the keep case says, "Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin join the celebrity chef in cooking dishes from the movie." If you like television cooking shows, you'll probably enjoy this item, which is in standard definition. The HD side also includes the "Unwrapped" segment from the SD side, along with pop-up menus, bookmarks, a zoom-and-pan feature, a guideline to elapsed time, the disc enclosed in an Elite Red HD case.
Parting Shots:
The major saving graces in "No Reservations" are the occasional Puccini, Verdi, and Flotow musical excerpts that play in the background and the movie's overall sincerity. Its weaknesses are its lackluster presence and its indecisive tone. On balance, no one wins or loses, making "No Reservations" at best an ordinary entry in the romantic or romantic-comedy or seriocomic movie genres, take your pick. Personally, I didn't find it romantic, I didn't find it funny, and I didn't find it dramatic, so my rating for its film value suffers accordingly.
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