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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Good Luck Chuck (2007)

Good Luck Chuck (2007)

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Released 5-Mar-2008

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Featurette-Eleanor Skipple
Featurette-Kama Sutra
Featurette-Frank the Penguin Actor
Featurette-Polystia
Featurette-The Real Life "Good Luck Chuck"
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Good Luck Chuckles
Featurette-All About Penguins
Audio Commentary
Outtakes
Multiple Angles-Sex Matrix
Trailer-21, Super Bad, Walk Hard & Saawariya
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2007
Running Time 98:12 (Case: 95)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up ?
Region Coding 4 Directed By Mark Helfrich
Studio
Distributor
SONY Pictures
Sony Pictures Home Entertain
Starring Dane Cook
Jessica Alba
Dan Fogler
Lonny Ross
Ellia English
Jordelle Micah Ferland
Case ?
RPI $29.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Unknown English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Good Luck Chuck has a very interesting premise. What if you were cursed never to be in a permanent relationship? What if once you have slept with a woman, the next man she goes onto meet, is the one she falls in love with and marries? What if women find out about that curse and 'use' you so that they can meet the man of their dreams once they have finished with you? Such is the life of Chuck (Dane Cook.) 

    Some men might be happy to live a life of sex without commitment, but not Chuck. In an awkward wedding encounter he meets, the woman of his dreams Cam (Jessica Alba.) Beautiful, emotionally unavailable, socially awkward and a serious klutz, Chuck falls head over heels with her. However, scared of losing her to the curse, he is unable to seal the deal and enter a serious relationship. As she begins to fall for him there are some funny moments of where she is trying to ramp up the relationship and he is trying to slow it down.

    Trying to be a noughties There's Something About Mary, this movie doesn't quite pull it off. Cook is no Stiller, I can't help but think he's the perfect sidekick but a lacking leading man. Alba fares better, but she is still nowhere near as comfortable in the role as Diaz was when she played Mary. Alba is gorgeous and certainly has a male following that generates ticket sales, but I'm yet to be convinced she has any dramatic range.

    Whilst there were some hilarious moments, the movie didn't deliver a story or characters that were endearing or sometimes even likable. There were some great lines and some gross out scenes that are funny, but overall it's a lacklustre, middle of the road comedy. It should be noted that this has extra footage (2-3 minutes) not seen in the theatrical cut.

    Worth a rental, but only serious Cook (are there any?) or Alba fans would want to commit to more than that.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    This disc is presented in PAL at the theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Overall the picture is pretty good, but it's not a perfect transfer.

    The image isn't quite as sharp as you'd expect. It tended to be ok in close ups, but anything wider and the softness was pretty apparent. It did tend to be a little grainy in spots.

    Colours are pretty good, with skin tones looking quite natural.

    Black levels look good and shadows details are fine.

    Thankfully there are no film artefacts and there is no edge enhancement either.

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

Audio

    The audio is a very solid English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) track.

    In comedies it's imperative to be able to hear the dialogue clearly. This track does a great job, dialogue is always clear and there are no sync or drop out issues.

    At different stages there are some pretty good music scenes that add a lot to the film overall.

    As far as this kind of film goes, surround sound action is not overly important, and whilst this track does a good job it is certainly not stand out.

    There was no subwoofer usage, but it wasn't really expected for this kind of film.

    There were also Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Turkish tracks.

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

Extras

    Eleanor Skipple: 

    4-5 minute featurette on the morbidly obese woman that played Chuck's biggest conquest.

    Kama Sutra:

    Briefly examines the research done to show the positions used in the movie.

    Frank the Penguin Actor:

    Cook does a scene as a penguin and this is a joke featurette about the penguins acting career.

    Polystia:

    Meaning multiple mammaries this shows the CG used to create a three breasted woman.

    The Real Life "Good Luck Chuck":

    Look at the guy who the movie is very loosely based on.

    Good Luck Chuckles:

    Brief behind the scenes look at the movie

    All About Penguins:

    Penguins on set and what it is like to work with them.

    Deleted/Extended Scenes

    12 extended or deleted scenes. Nothing special to see here.

    Commentary with director Mark Helfrich, producer Mike Karz, screenwriter Josh Stolberg, & star Dane Cook

    A fairly laidback discussion, I was surprised that the jokes weren't flowing a bit more. Cook was surprisingly quiet and let the others talk a lot.

    Gag Reel:

    Very funny.

    Ad libs:

    Also quite funny.

    Sex Matrix:

    Footage from the film showing the various positions used in Chuck's endeavours.

    Trailers:

    21, Super Bad, Walk Hard & Saawariya

    Overall, a lot of special features for a pretty ordinary movie. For the most part, it's interesting viewing.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The R1 version only has 4 featurettes as opposed to our 7.

    - Polymastia

    - Kama Sutra

    - Frank the Penguin Actor

    - All About Penguins

    Besides that the extras are the same. With 3 extra featurettes, R4 wins.

Summary

    A few good laughs, but disappointing overall.

    The video is ok.

    The audio is good.

    The special features are surprisingly good and we got more than R1!

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ben Smith (boku no bio)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Review Equipment
DVDMarantz DV4300, using Component output
DisplaySony VPL HS10 projector on 100 inch 16x9 screen + Palsonic 76WSHD. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderSony STR-DE685. Calibrated with THX Optimizer.
AmplificationPioneer
SpeakersDB Dynamics VEGA series floor standers + centre, DB bipole rears, 10" 100W DB Dynamics sub

Other Reviews NONE