A Lot Like Love
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Amanda Peet, Taryn Manning, Aimee Garcia
Extras: Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Blooper Reel, Music Video from Aqualung
Rating:
I am usually not too fond of actors or celebrities that are way over-exposed in the media, which good or bad, forces me to steer clear from certain projects of said celebrities. This however was not the case with Ashton Kutcher's latest film "A Lot Like Love". Thinking I was in for the usual cookie-cutter romantic comedy fare, I ended up pleasantly surprised by both Kutcher's performance and the story itself. Kutcher plays Oliver, a slightly dorky aspiring dot-comer who meets up with Emily (Amanda Peet) on a flight to New York, and in a brief moment, the two become members of the mile high club. After the flight arrives, the two part ways, later meeting on the streets of New York where they strike up a friendship. Spanning seven years, the two connect, separate and re-connect several times, taking the pair to Los Angeles (where the two live) then to San Francisco, where Oliver is attempting to establish his new internet business. Continuing to drop in and out on each others lives, until one day they realize that they are actually more suited for one another then they would have originally thought and possibly proving that opposites do attract.
Buena Vista Home Entertainment presents "A Lot Like Love" in a nicely produced anamorphic transfer, displaying an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. A fullframe version is also sold separately for those who care. Colors were well saturated throughout providing natural looking flesh tones and highlighting some nice scenes with good use of vivid colors. Blacks appeared slightly gray in some scenes, but for the most part, remained deep and rich in depth providing a wealth of detail throughout the film. There was little to no visible artifacts from compression, leaving this DVD with a favorable presentation.
The soundtrack for "A Lot Like Love" comes available in the form of a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that is nicely presented, but tends to remain in the front three channels by providing minimal surround or low frequency use. Keeping in mind that this film is a romantic comedy, there really were no moments in the presentation where you felt that heavy bass or excessive surround effects were needed. Overall the soundtrack was pleasant and nicely mixed for the films content.
Available extras include; an audio commentary featuring director Nigel Cole and producers Armyan Bernstein and Kevin Messick, deleted scenes, a blooper reel and a music video from Aqualung round out the special features. Buena Vista has also included a sampling of "Sneak Peeks" available at the beginning of the presentation or accessed through the main menu.
