Best Man Down (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Trailer-Sleepwalk With Me Trailer-Bernie Trailer-Your Sister’s Sister Trailer-Terri
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	86:13
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ted Koland
Studio Distributor	KODA Entertainment Madman Entertainment	Starring	Justin Long Jess Weixler Tyler Labine Addison Timlin Shelley Long Frances O'Connor Evan Jones Michael Landes
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	?	Music	Mateo Messina

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

“He wasn't your best friend, he was your oldest friend. There's a difference.”

     Just wed couple Scott (Justin Long) and Kristin (Jess Weixler) are looking forward to a honeymoon in Mexico but best man Lumpy (Tyler Labine) is playing havoc at the wedding reception. Doing his best John Belushi (in Animal House) or Jack Black impersonation, Lumpy (real name Laurence), is drunk but harmless – if a lot out of control. Scott is reluctant to step in as he owes Lumpy a big financial favour and also regrets having lost contact with his former best friend in recent years. Eventually Lumpy turns in but continues to party in his hotel room until a misadventure results in him being found dead outside his hotel the next day. There is no one else available to care for the body so Scott is obligated to make funeral preparations and use his honeymoon money to pay for the expenses. Scott also needs to find Lumpy’s family and friends to tell them of events with few clues on how to contact them except for Lumpy’s phone. Lumpy has few saved numbers in his phone memory but one contact leads Scott to teenage girl Ramsey (Addison Timlin) who lives in a Minnesota town. Scott, with a reluctant Kristin in tow, travels to snow-bound Minnesota and eventually finds Ramsay who is living in a dysfunctional home with druggie mum Jaime (Frances O'Connor) and her abusive step-father Winston (Evan Jones). Through a number of flashback sequences we find that Ramsay has a troubled past with few positives in her life apart from local priest with a secret (Michael Landes) and Lumpy. Her prior chance meeting with Lumpy some ten months earlier had given her a chance at life that seemed previously impossible. Through Ramsay both Scott and Kristin discover that there was a lot more to Lumpy than appearances suggested, and much more to his character than they could have possible imagined.

     As written and directed by Ted Koland, Best Man Down struggles with its identity. At times rom-com, at other times black humour - this movie is alternatively light-hearted or dark and menacing. When the Ramsay character is explored however this movie rises above the pack to become something a lot more substantial than you might expect. The performance of Timlin is simply breath-taking and absolutely convincing. Her relationship with Lumpy takes a while to be revealed, but the scenes between them are rewarding, wonderfully written, and portrayed expertly by Timlin and Labine. The Scott and Kristin characters are played in a slightly kooky fashion, although their relationship has some substantial issues that need addressing. Similarly, the newly-weds' families are played with a degree of comedy, including the casting of an almost unrecognisable Shelley Long (Cheers), as mother of the bride Gail. Juxtaposing these scenes are those back in Minnesota where the bright but lonely Ramsay is dealing with the dark and threatening home environment that is her prison. It is reasonable to criticise Koland somewhat for not expanding more on the relationship between Ramsay and the priest, and for not delving more into Ramsay’s past, but I expect he was constrained to staying within ninety minutes duration. The funeral homily by Ramsay ties up a few loose ends and also manages to conclude proceedings on a truly emotional and heart-warming note that left me wanting a bit more depth and expansion.

Video

     Video is presented in the theatrical aspect of 2.35:1 and is anamorphically enhanced. This is a very sombre presentation with predominantly bleak and cold palettes. Minnesota in winter looks very uninviting, and Ramsay’s circumstances are not conducive to cheery surrounds. Skin tones are accurate and black levels are distinct without any significant evidence of crushing. Being a dual layer authoring with limited extras there shouldn’t be any compression artefacts and I found that to be the case. Detail is very good for standard definition even in dimly lit scenes. Some of the framing is slightly wobbly however this is not an authoring issue but either an inadvertent or intentional device by the director. Overall, a nice if uninspiring video presentation which suits the subject matter.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The only option is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track at 448 Kb/s. For a dialogue-centric movie speaking voices have to be clear and accurate and in this respect Best Man Down is very good. Synchronisation is also spot on although I did see some minor continuity errors with lips not matching words that must have been introduced during post-production. Surrounds are not obtrusive although they do spring into life during the frequent musical breaks in the soundtrack. Also when the pond ice breaks there is a satisfying crack felt around the room. Similarly the LFE track is rarely noticed apart from the musical pieces.

     In summary this audio presentation does the job without any artefacts or authoring errors.

     There are no subtitles.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

     The menu featured looping audio with static background.

Movie Trailers

     Selected from the extras menu with a play-all function. All widescreen video and Dolby Digital 2.0 at 224 Kb/s. Sleepwalk With Me (2:29), Bernie (2:07), Your Sister’s Sister (2:26), Terri (2:24).

    The Region A release seems identical to this version apart from having Spanish subtitles and different trailers. This title is also available in Blu-ray.

     Best Man Down is a much better film than you might expect with excellent performances - especially from Addison Timlin who dropped a few years in playing the fifteen year old Ramsay. This story exerts a real emotional pull which could have done with extra plot background, but even so this will leave you moved and touched by the difference one person can make in a stranger’s life. Definitely worth a viewing.

    The video quality is very good.

     The audio quality is very good.

     The extras are meagre.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall