Life of the Party (Blu-ray) (2018)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Featurette-2 Outtakes Deleted Scenes
Rating
Year Of Production	2018
Running Time	104:48
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ben Falcone
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Melissa McCarthy Gillian Jacobs Maya Rudolph Julie Bowen Matt Walsh Molly Gordon Stephen Root Jackie Weaver
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	$29.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired German for the Hearing Impaired Greek Icelandic	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Is Melissa McCarthy becoming the cinema equivalent of Netflix's stream of Adam Sandler vehicles? Maybe not quite yet, but she and her husband, Ben Falcone are certainly churning out a stream of movies, some of which feel just a little under-developed as if they are being churned out rather than crafted. Sure this film has some amusing moments and is amiable entertainment for 100 minutes but the story is pretty weak and some of the plot points not even properly explained. It does feel like it was a decent idea which was then rushed through screenplay development and turned out too quickly. Their three films together, this one, The Boss and Tammy have all received middling reviewing and languish around an IMDB audience rating of 5. These stand in comparison to films like Ghostbusters and Spy , which were better received and are certainly rated better by audiences. This third film, Life of the Party written by them both and directed by Ben Falcone, strikes me very much like the previous two, decent, sometimes amusing but ultimately forgettable. Even the copious deleted scenes make me wonder if there wasn't a better film that could have been put together from what was shot.

    The story is pretty cliched but revolves around a frumpy middle aged lady, Deanna (McCarthy) whose only daughter, Maddie (Molly Gordon) is heading back to college for her senior year. As her and her husband Dan (Matt Walsh) drop their daughter back at college, he tells her that he wants a divorce and is selling their house to hook up with a real estate agent, Marcie (Julie Bowen). Of course, she reacts badly and decides to go back to college herself to finish her archeology degree, which Dan made her give up in the first place. What ensues is pretty standard "fish out of water" stuff for Deanna and "teenage daughter embarrassed by her mother" stuff for Maddie. Deanna finds a relationship with a younger man, rediscovers college parties and Maddie discovers a new respect for her mother.

    This is not to say that there are no laughs to be had here as there are certainly some funny sequences such as a dinner with most of the main protagonists (although even this one is funnier in the deleted scenes). There is also a sweeter vibe to the film than some of her previous projects which have been a bit nastier in their comedy. Some other highlights are Deanna parents, played by Stephen Root and Jackie Weaver, supposedly based on McCarthy's actual parents and the funniest characters in the film. Other amusing actors such as Chris Parnell are really wasted in their roles and many characters seem to go nowhere in the film. It is worth noting that my wife got more from this film than I did, identifying with the character more, but still agreeing with my overall view.

    Anyway, if you like Melissa McCarthy and feel like a gentle sweet comedy, this one is probably worth a look.

Video

    The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio in 1080p.

    Compared to other Blu-rays, this film is somewhat soft especially in some scenes. This is possibly due to the film going for more of a sitcom look than a cinematic one. As I have a new setup I kept thinking I had a setting wrong but comparison to other upscaled Blu-rays makes me think it is this transfer. It does not seem to be related to the bitrate as this hovered around 28 or 29 Mbps.

    The colour is quite good without setting the world on fire.

    There were no obvious artefacts.

    There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired, German for the hearing impaired, Greek and Icelandic which are clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good, perfectly satisfactory but certainly not one to test your home theatre.

    This disc contains an English soundtrack in DTS HD-MA 5.1, a descriptive audio track in Dolby Digital 5.1 and a German Dolby Digital 5.1 track.

    Dialogue was very clear throughout and the film is very dialogue focused. Party and classroom scenes provide good ambiance in the surround speakers and songs burst into life.

    The surround speakers were used mostly for music and atmosphere.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu is still and includes annoying music.

80s Party (4:51)

Mom Sandwich (2:45)

    A featurette about the characters being based on McCarthy's real parents and her mother's penchant for forcing sandwiches on people.

Deleted Scenes (46:36)

Line-o-rama (3:02)

Bill Hate-o-rama (2:44)

Gag Reel (5:25)

    This movie is available globally seemingly in the same format.

    The video quality is decent.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall