I Feel Pretty (Blu-ray Review)
Amy Schumer scored herself a nice little hit before the summer season snapped open and turn the competition to dust with I Feel Pretty. Consider me a fan of the comedian’s cinematic output thus far. I was a huge fan of Trainwreck and while it was pretty average, I didn’t mind Snatched last summer. I Feel Pretty seemed to stir up controversy merely based on its trailer, but I guess I’m a jerk because I thought it looked like it was going to be a lot of fun. Plus, knowing Schumer, it probably wasn’t going to be exactly what the surface was telling us. Universal is bringing the comedy to home video on July 17th, skipping 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray and just settling for a standard Blu-ray combo pack. If you’re looking to check it out or a fan ready to snatch it up, you can order yourself a copy from the Amazon link at the bottom following the review.
Film 
A woman who struggles with feelings of insecurity and inadequacy on a daily basis wakes from a fall believing she is suddenly the most beautiful and capable woman on the planet. With this newfound sense of confidence, she is empowered to live her life fearlessly and flawlessly, but what will happen when she realizes her appearance never changed?
Amy Schumer’s latest comedy is much smarter and more genuine than many seemed to have derived from the trailers. Its not quite as funny as one might hope it to be, but it should be lauded for the way it plays with and dives into the study of perceptions and the way people, especially women, are judged heavily on their appearances. The tale of course dives into the world of modeling, fashion and cosmetics as a backdrop which is a bit obvious, but what better place to go head first into the subject matter.
Many seemed to dismiss this film as some sort of body shaming “Haha look at the fat girl” movie, especially when Schumer isn’t really that (She’s just not extremely tiny as are most performers). But, a look at the film actually puts a lot of the ugliness and shallowness on the world she’s entering. Covers are everything here, without ever opening even to the table of contents. And just when you think the film is making a judgement solely on pretty people, it is thoughtful enough to turn that on its head as well.
While the film is a classic comedy star vehicle for Schumer, you’re going to come away from this movie thinking all about Michelle Williams. You’ve never seen her like this before and she has a fully realized caricature that kills every time she’s on screen. Williams boasts a super high pitched voice, but its her mannerisms, facial expressions and movements that just absolutely fully embody this thing. I was having Ronee Blakley in A Nightmare On Elm St flashbacks for some reason. Michelle gives you big laughs but also mesmerizes with great fascination every time she shows up in a frame. Its incredible and in a just world that actually rewards comedic performances, she’d have a surefire Oscar nomination next year.
I Feel Pretty feels like a little bit of a step up from last year’s Snatched, but still falling very short of Trainwreck, which is pretty much the high bar for Schumer’s comedies. This is in that wheelhouse though. Its pretty funny, though there are some scenes that involve humor focusing on embarrassment or uncomfortable situations that don’t sit well with certain crowds so while I find some of those funny others may not. The film is more than a solid way to enjoy your time and gives a bit of an uplifting feeling as well.
Video
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Layers: BD-50
Clarity/Detail: I Feel Pretty debuts on Blu-ray with a terrific image. Its a crisp and sharp one with a very vivid and bright look to it. Details are very strong, giving you a good look at the textures and overall freshness and worn out look to the yin and yang worlds with which Renee lives her life.
Depth: Movements are cinematic, natural and smooth with no distortion issues occurring. Spacing between foreground and background is more than decent. Camera pans, zooms and such give a good sense of separation and pushback between characters, objects and environments.
Black Levels: Blacks are deep and well saturated into the image. There are some great instances of shading and no details are really lost in any sort of darkened information. No crushing witnessed.
Color Reproduction: Colors are pretty strong and give a nice controlled vivid burst. Much of that comes from wardrobe worm from the characters with very powerful colors. There is also some great contrast on display from the bright and colorful modeling world to the normal, darker, dingier, less colorful one Renee starts out in.
Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent from the first frame of the film to the final one. Facial features and textures are clearly visible from any reasonably given distance.
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio
Audio Format(s): English 7.1 DTS-HD MA, English Descriptive Video Service, Spanish 5.1 DTS
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Dynamics: I Feel Pretty surprisingly comes with a 7.1 DTS-HD MA track. While it is utilized, this movie probably was served just find with a 5.1 track. Nothing here really lends one to believe it either needed 7.1 or that much was done to show its worth. In terms of the mix, depth and dynamics here, this one is pretty solid though some of the volume of the vocals and music at times feels like its a little low.
Height: N/A
Low Frequency Extension: The subwoofer is tricky here. Its able to strike quite good throughout on effects and slams and some songs, however some of the score felt like things should have been hitting deeper or more effectively than it was.
Surround Sound Presentation: The film builds with some very nice ambiance and we do get some good moments where individual rear or surround speakers get to do something unique. Together, all the speakers do make for a good full sound with little intricacies in their depth and layering.
Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp throughout, able to fluctuate with any given degree of loud background or forefront noise.
Extras
I Feel Pretty comes with the DVD edition and an iTunes-only digital copy of the film. At this time, I can confirm the digital copy did not port over to my linked MoviesAnywhere account.
Deleted Scenes (HD, 8:50)
Gag Reel (HD, 5:24)
Being Pretty (HD, 0:54) – The stars 0f the film answer the question “What makes you feel pretty?”
Summary
I Feel Pretty provides a nice genuine message, surprisingly playing both sides of the field while giving some solid laughs throughout. The Blu-ray presentation is more than you could bargain for with a terrific video presentation and solid audio. The extras aren’t much and a bit of a snooze, which is the most disappointing thing about this release. Because of the lack of supplements, this is a decent pickup at a discounted price.
