Second Act (Blu-ray) (2019)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy Drama	Featurette-3 Interviews-Cast-3
Rating
Year Of Production	2019
Running Time	103:30
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	?
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Peter Segal
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Jennifer Lopez Vanessa Hudgens Leah Rimini
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio DTS HD Master Audio 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.40:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The title of this film, Second Act starring Jennifer Lopez, refers to a woman taking charge of the second act of their life (i.e. after 40) and despite challenges, making herself successful and achieving what she wants to. This is a good idea for a film which has not really been done very much, however, it is hard to imagine how you can make a worse film based on that premise than this one. I watched this film with someone who I would assume should be its target audience, a woman over forty thinking about the next stage of her life, but she got sick of it before I did. The main problem here is the writing which is poor from start to finish with too many ridiculous plot points and relies on incredible coincidences and ludicrous character behaviours changes to get to its ending. I don't understand how a film can be completely unbelievable and yet really obvious at the same time. The writers and director need to take a long hard look at themselves.

    Anyway, the plot concerns Maya (Lopez) a woman of forty-ish who has been living with her boyfriend Trey (Milo Ventimiglia) for a few years without committing to having a family. She works as a assistant manager at a large suburban store, somewhat like a Costco or Walmart. The manager job has become available and she is in the running for the role. When she is passed over for a man with a degree but not street smarts or people skills, she decides to look for something else. Her friends create a new resume and online presence for her (which is all lies), getting the interest (by some miracle) of the CEO of a big cosmetics firm, Anderson Clarke (Treat Williams) who asks her in for an interview. Despite the concerns of his daughter, Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens) who is a VP in the business, he obviously hires her as a consultant. This pitches them against each other in the creation of a new line of cosmetics. Zoe has the best minds in the firm on her team, whereas Maya gets the cast-offs, a scientist with too many morals (Alan Aisenberg) and an assistant with a fear of heights (Charlyne Yi). The completely unbelievable 'twist' comes along part way through and takes things in a different direction. The cast also includes Leah Rimini, Lopez's real-life best friend.

    To be fair there are some funny moments in this film with little bits of pratfall humour and some smart lines but this is the only positive I have to offer. The dialogue is quite ordinary at times and as I mentioned above the storyline generally doesn't hold together. The acting although decent cannot elevate the material. The direction is average and the cinematography run of the mill. The music doesn't add a whole lot either being mostly generic pop. I cannot recommend this film.

Video

    The feature is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio in 1080p. The film was shot digitally and looks quite good, with good colour and sufficient detail. There is some minor aliasing and a little motion blur but nothing major. Generally, the film looks as you would expect for a recent digital feature film with no major issues to report.

    There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired which are clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    This disc contains an English soundtrack in DTS HD-MA 5.1 and a descriptive audio track in DTS HD-MA 2.0. Similar to the video there is nothing about this soundtrack that makes it stand out but it does a good job with the material. The music sounds nice and full, the dialogue is clear throughout. There are some mild uses of the surround speakers for crowd and street scenes but that is all you can really expect from this style of film.

    The subwoofer did a good job supporting the music without really being overly noticeable.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu is still and silent.

Connections (0:55)

    Promo featurette with interview snippets and scenes.

Empowerment (0:55)

    Promo featurette with interview snippets and scenes.

Friendship (0:57)

    Promo featurette with interview snippets and scenes.

Interview - Jenifer Lopez (2:53)

    Standard promo style interview seemingly with Aussie journalist.

Interview - Vanessa Hudgens (3:34)

    Standard promo style interview seemingly with Aussie journalist.

Interview - Leah Rimini (3:58)

    Standard promo style interview seemingly with Aussie journalist.

    The US release of this film has the same technical specifications but does not contain the interviews (for what they are worth). Local win.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall