# Osage Reviews...YOU AGAIN (Blu-ray; Touchstone/Buena Vista)



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

*Studio Name: Touchstone (Buena Vista/Disney) 
MPAA Rating: PG 
Disc/Transfer Information: 1080p High Definition 2.40:1; Region 1 (U.S.) Release
Tested Audio Track: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48Khz/24-bit)
Director: Andy Fickman
Starring Cast: Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Odette Yustman, Betty White


PLOT ANALYSIS:*

What a waste of time this was. You know something? The only redeeming element of _You Again_ was the eye candy that came in the form of the normally cute-as-a-button Kristen Bell (who didn’t look that great here as she was in and out of nerdy, geeky and acne scarred getups) and the lovely Odette Yustman (from _Cloverfield_). 

It seems to me Bell needs to seriously sit down with her agent to get her better work, because between this stink bomb and the last one she was in – the utterly disastrous _When in Rome_ – this girl is wasting her time on films that aren’t written, produced or directed well…at all. In fact, the last good Kristen Bell feature I sat through was _Forgetting Sara Marshall_, which I actually own on DVD and was a funny ride all the way through; but alas, my wife couldn’t wait for _You Again_ to finally hit Blu-ray, and as usual when you build yourself up in anticipation of a title you really wanted to see, it lets you down promptly and horrendously. Hence, we enter _You Again_, which promoted hijinks from the likes of Betty White (who is getting so much attention in Hollywood circles as of late I hope she doesn’t turn up doing a _Penthouse_ spread) and even promised comedy on par with White’s last great feature, _The Proposal_. Unfortunately, she’s a total waste in this, taking out dentures for granddaughter Bell to hold and put back in her head and swinging from hanging drapes at a dance rehearsal school – don’t ask. Further, there’s a complete lack of comedy here, except for some moments when Jamie Lee Curtis (who looks just awful and as manly as ever) makes some facial gestures that are downright funny, and the whole thing just comes off like _Never Been Kissed_ meets…I don’t know. Whatever. We get it – people were picked on in high school. They never forget it. The cool girls and dudes never learn from it. You want to kill them all if you bore the brunt of their jokes. The ultimate revenge fantasy of all this was handled perfectly through the shocker _Carrie_ – as that’s what I would have done as well to all those that poured pig’s blood on my head. But that’s _You Again_ in a nutshell, and it systematically follows the problems people have had in high school from Bell down to her mother (Curtis) and finally down to grandmother (White).

The film begins with a flashback sequence depicting Bell as a pimple-faced, braces-endowed total geek in her high school days, tormented by the popular jocks and cheerleaders. Burying a time capsule in the ground in front of the school, Bell’s character is suddenly in the present, giving a lecture to a group visiting her PR firm where she works…recalling the days of her horrid high school existence, and urging these people to learn from it. When she’s advised by her boss that she’s being offered a promotion to VP in their New York office, she flips and immediately flies home because her brother is getting married. On the plane, she learns from her mother (a terrible looking Jamie Lee Curtis) via air-fone that the brother is marrying the one girl who tormented her more than any other all those years in school (the gorgeous Odette Yustman). If you still care at this point, Bell freaks and needs to be restrained by an air marshal on the plane (played by Duane “The Rock” Johnson of wrestling fame) but eventually makes it home.

From there, all sorts of wilding goes on, as Bell’s brother arrives home as well with Yustman, who seems to claim she doesn’t remember Bell from high school at all. Bell is suspicious, however, and begins to feel Yustman out with certain comments and questions about her past. This really didn’t interest me, personally, at all, and the whole time I kept thinking “I know she was tormented as a kid by this awful chick, but honestly…who cares? She has a good job and shouldn’t care less…” but I suffered through. Before you know it, Yustman’s character’s aunt arrives at the house (an old looking and oddly shaped Sigourney Weaver) to get to know Bell’s brother’s family before the wedding, but there’s yet another high school connection here – apparently, Weaver and Curtis were high school friends in the 70s too, and like Bell and Yustman, both tormented one another during those years. A revenge plot begins to take hold, as all weekend long, Curtis is trying to out dance and outclass Weaver while Weaver tries to do the same, and Bell enters a similar grudge with Yustman, who we are already are beginning to suspect is definitely not innocent here. What’s even worse is what comes at the end – during the wedding, grandma Betty White runs into another old bag _she_ went to high school with centuries earlier, and the two of them try to out-do one another on the dance floor and for the attention of a man.

Whew. I couldn’t wait for this to be over. Of course, you know what happens, don’t you? Well, Bell gets her chance to finally tell Yustman off at the rehearsal dinner, but this collapses into a plate-throwing fight between the two girls, as they release their anger and range for each other on one another…Bell’s brother doesn’t want to marry Yustman any longer after Bell plays the video tape buried in the time capsule from her school which she dug up, depicting Yustman violently harassing Bell and bragging about it…Curtis and Weaver get into a fight and end up throwing each other in a swimming pool wearing identical red dresses…and at the end of the film, guess what? Everyone makes up, forgives the other person and live happily ever after! Were you surprised? Does this equate in any remote fashion real life? Ummm…the answer to that would be “no”…

*VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS: HOW DID THE DISC LOOK?*

_You Again_ is presented by Disney and Touchstone’s home video release division Buena Vista in a stunning 1080p 2.40:1 transfer. The image was kept at attention by a clean, stable, rock-solid appearance that sometimes hinted at a bit of black crush, but nothing more. At times, fleshtones appeared a bit reddish and dark, but overall, there was nothing visually flawed with this transfer. 

*AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS: HOW DID THE DISC SOUND?*
The DTS-HD Master Audio mix on this disc was disappointing, just like the film itself; no dynamics to speak of, low dialogue track and a lack of any punch during score or musical sequences. 

*EXTRAS:*

N/A

*SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATIONS:*

Skip this – unless you absolutely must see it because of your significant other. 

I’ll be serving up a review of _Paranormal Activity 2_ next!


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Has anyone seen this yet?


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