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Prom
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (27th October 2011). |
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The Film
 “Prom: A night when nice guy’s might not finish last. When friends might completely surprise you. When the person you were throughout high school could change in an instant. Maybe you find what you’re looking for, or maybe you just find yourself. It’s true: It’s a night that can bring us all together. But it’s more than that because, when it ends, it’s really just the beginning.” Statistically you’re more likely to get date-raped, be involved in a possibly fatal drunk driving accident, contract an STD—or, even worse, end up with a not-so-wonderful “surprise” 9 months later. At the very least, you’ll wake up with a wicked hangover and only the foggiest memory of what happened the night before, but… whatever. Disney’s “Prom” is completely obvious to the harsher realties of life and the darker side of that largely forgettable night. It would much rather wallow in some hopelessly blind optimism. An optimism that appeals to the ignorance of inexperienced and uninformed youth and those who aren’t—unlike me—cold and more than a little dead inside. And you know what? That isn’t a horrible thing. Several intersecting stories unfold at one high school as the big dance approaches; “Prom” portrays the precarious passage from high school to independence as some relationships unravel and others ignite. For Nova Prescott (Aimee Teegarden), senior class president and generally peppy do-gooder, it's a battle of wills as she finds herself drawn to the motorcycle-riding-bad-boy-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks-who-really-has-a-heart-of-gold Jesse Richter (Thomas McDonell) when he inadvertently gets in the way of her perfect prom. Fellow seniors Mei (Yin Chang) and Tyler (DeVaughn Nixon) harbor secrets that could affect their respective relationships, but try and keep it together until after the big night. Sophomore Lucas (Nolan Sotillo) is attracted to Simone (Danielle Campbell), his lab partner, who he tries to get with the help of his friend Corey (Cameron Monaghan). And lovable Lloyd (Nicholas Braun), the invisible guy at school, just wants to find a date so he can stop the incessant pestering from his sister, Tess (Raini Rodriguez), a lowly, gossipy freshman. Like most idiotic teen films, “Prom” is pretty much beyond reproach. My criticisms mean nothing to the group that the film was designed for, and they’ve already seen it. Everyone else, because it’s a supposedly stupid tween-flick, has already written it off. But, I’ll still say it: “Prom” isn’t a good movie and, astonishingly, it isn’t terrible either. Yes, the screenplay by Katie Wech falls victim to every genre trope there is in the book. The characters are all barely-dimensional stereotypes. And it’s about as predicable as the date of the next Christmas. But “Prom” is a film that is greater than the sum of its clichés, if only barely. At the very least, Wech and director Joe Nassbaum know the genre’s inborn tropes well and copy from the best (in certain aspects “Prom” is very reminiscent of the films of John Hughes). Most characters may be as flat as Stanley, but the cast of young actors—Aimee Teegarden, Thomas McDonell and Nicholas Braun in particular—do decent things with them. Teegarden manages to make Nova a lot less annoying than similar characters have been in other films. And Braun’s comedic sensibilities are at least polished enough to elicit genuine laughs from the scripts least-lame jokes. He also gets lines like, “Prom’s like the Olympics of high school. You wait four years, three people have a good time, and everybody else gets to live on with shattered dreams,” which is sort of awesome. (It’s like my horribly disillusioned apathetic younger self was calling out to me from the screen!) There’s also something to be said about the finality of “Prom’s” closing scenes. When the credits roll its over, and there’s no chance of a “High School Musical” (2006)-like franchise being born from the cavernous depths of Disney’s development department. “Prom” is predictable, but still playful, cliché, but not crass, and woefully Disney-fied, but not totally dull (there’s even a cleverly-veiled pothead named Rolo in the film). Going in, I expected little and perhaps that’s why I came away enjoying the film on some level. Idealized, sanitized, stereotypical—yes, Joe Nassbaum’s “Prom” is all those things. But its also not tactlessly directed, or poorly acted. And it is, despite itself, fun, funny and not entirely worthless. I think, as a film that Disney intends to sell to a younger early-teen audience, “Prom” works. It may not work in too many other contexts, but it doesn’t have to.
Video
“Prom” makes minor movie history as the first feature shot with Arri’s new Alexa HD camera. The results are gobsmackingly gorgeous and leave me eagerly waiting for the next Alexa lensed production to hit Blu-ray. Simply put, Disney’s 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 transfer from the pristine digital source is spectacular. The high def image, framed at the TV-friendly 1.78:1 widescreen ratio, is surprisingly cinematic. Impressive detail, punchy contrast, an inky black level, and a faultless encode make for a terrific presentation. “Prom” is intentionally desaturated, oddly playing against the brightly colored marketing materials, in most scenes. But lack of vibrancy be damned… this is a great looking disc.
Audio
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix (48kHz/24-bit) isn’t quite as stunning as the video, but it is satisfying all the same. Dialogue is clean and clear, and the pop-rock Radio Disney infused soundtrack has rich and pure dynamics. The Blu-ray also includes an English Descriptive Video Service Dolby Digital 2.0 track, French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 dubs, and optional subtitles in English, French and Spanish.
Extras
Disney’s 2-disc set includes a little less than an hour of special features with most of that runtime coming from trailers and music videos. “Prom” includes a making-of featurette, blooper reel, deleted scenes, short film, music videos, and bonus trailers. Most of the extras are Blu-ray exclusive, and better still everything is encoded in high definition. A commentary could have filled out the extras quite nicely, and I would’ve welcomed a more comprehensive making of. Alas, the collection is decent, and probably exactly what the film’s target audience is looking for. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY “Putting on ‘Prom’” (1080p, 5 minutes 59 seconds) is a typical, highly promotional, making-of featurette. Producer Justin Springer, director Joe Nassbaum, writer Katie Wech, and most of the cast talk about the writing, casting, and life on set. It’s very bland and one-dimensional, with not even a trace of substance in the plasticy six-minutes-with-credits runtime. At one point during “Prom’s” mercifully short blooper reel (1080p, 2 minutes 34 seconds) Aimee Teegarden screams, “I’m excited!” I’m not. Not even a little bit. This is just lots of mugging and the camera and unfunny flubs. “Last Chance Lloyd” (1080p, 10 minutes 19 seconds) is a bonus short film, exclusive to Blu-ray. This cute short has more of Lloyd (Nicholas Braun) and his bubbly sister (Raini Rodriguez) on their quest to find him the perfect date—or, actually, any date—for prom. A few of the scenes are taken from the film proper, but most of the material is new. And nearly all of it’s funny and should’ve been in the final film. 4 deleted scenes with introductions from producer Justin Springer and director Joe Nassbaum (1080p, 7 minutes 44 seconds total runtime) amount to a few character beats and longer montages. None of the scenes are particularly notable, and all of them wisely cut. The scenes are: - "Simone and Tyler" - "Additional Archfield Escape" - "Jess as Tux Shop" - "Additional Prom Scenes" 7 music videos (1080p, 24 minutes 16 seconds total runtime) are included for: - “Not Your Birthday” by All-Star Weekend. - “Your Surrender” by Neon Trees. - “Time Stand” by Moon. - “We Could be Anything” by Nolan Sotillo. - “Juntos Lo Haremos Bien” by Nolan Sotillo. - “I’ll Be Yours” by Those Dancing Days. - “Come One, Let’s Go” by Girl in a Coma. The disc also includes a number of bonus trailers (1080p) for: - “The Muppets” (1.85:1 widescreen, 1 minutes 35 seconds). - “Cars 2” on Blu-ray and DVD (2.40:1 widescreen, 1 minutes 39 seconds). - “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” on Blu-ray and DVD (2.40:1 widescreen, 1 minute 12 seconds). - “Prom” soundtrack promo (22 seconds). - “Disney Nature: African Cats” on Blu-ray and DVD (1 minute 51 seconds) DISC TWO: DVD The second disc is a full retail DVD-9. It includes the film in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen 480i/p with English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, English DVS 2.0, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 and subtitles in English, French and Spanish. The disc includes the “Putting on ‘Prom’” (5 minutes 59 seconds) featurette, blooper reel (2 minutes 34 seconds) , and the same bonus trailers found on the Blu-ray.
Packaging
“Prom” is packaged in a 2-disc Blu-ray keepcase with an embossed cardboard slip-cover. Disney’s BD+DVD combo pack includes the film and special features in high definition on a dual layered BD-50; the film and a smaller smattering of extras, in standard definition, are pressed onto a DVD-9. The Blu-ray disc is locked to Region A. The DVD is locked to Region 1.
Overall
At its worst, “Prom” is innocent, irrelevant fluff. There are few who will really appreciate it outside of the teen set. But those teens will probably like it. And unlike “High School Musical”, Mom and Dad and older siblings in the house won’t want to commit a violent crime after watching it. Disney’s perfect video presentation and above average DTS-HD audio track certainly make things more palatable too. Unfortunately, even on Blu-ray, the extras are lacking. Rent it.
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