Why So Blu?

Laggies (Blu-ray Review)

Laggies is a mix of typical rom-com material with typical coming-of-age story material fit inside of the shell of an indie comedy.  However, this ‘indie’ effort from director Lynn Shelton has far more mainstream appeal than her previous features, Humpday and Your Sister’s Sister, given the presence of big Hollywood actors Keira Knightley, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Sam Rockwell.  It is not the most unique of stories, but it has enough fun with its story and enough charm coming from the performances to make for an entertaining film.  Now Laggies is available on Blu-ray for many to check out and see for themselves.

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Film:

Keira Knightley is Megan, an aimless 28-year-old, who is still working on growing up and making the next steps in life.  She has a boyfriend (Mark Webber) she has been with since high school; parents with both concern (the mom) and understanding (the dad, played with ease by Jeff Garlin); and old friends (including Allison, played by Ellie Kemper), who are becoming adults, getting married and having children, etc.  Rather than submit, Megan decides to play hooky for a week, befriending a high school girl, Annika (Chloe Grace Moretz), and staying at her house, with her single father, Craig (Sam Rockwell).  During this week, Megan gets a look back at the life of a high school girl, while also getting a chance to figure things out for herself.

Ultimately, Laggies is a feel-good film, where the characters will go through some minor struggles, but ultimately make decisions that lead to the best of results.  The film follows a formula, but it is still entertaining regardless.  That is due to the cast.  Keira Knightley, working with an American accent here in a more acceptable way than in Jack Ryan, is wonderfully fit for this sort of character.  Chloe Grace Moretz is understandably believable as a regular teenage girl, but that makes her no less impressive (and it is really just nice seeing her in a regular role).  Then there is Sam ‘the man’ Rockwell, who has basically turned his Way Way Back character into a responsible father figure, who still has that Rockwell-style fun attitude hidden just below the surface.

There is also a strong supporting cast here.  Mark Webber may be portrayed as a bit of a sap, but he is effective.  Jeff Garlin is very dialed down, but nice enough in a slightly complex father role.  The best stuff comes from Kaitlyn Dever (Short Term 12), who plays Annika’s best friend and gets enough of the right ways to make for a supporting character with just enough good material to make stand out.

Working from a script by Andrea Seigel, Lynn Shelton does not go anywhere wild with this story in terms of the filmmaking on display, but it is crafted well enough to keep from ever really being anything less than endearing.  The message of the film is pretty standard stuff, but again, Shelton manages to get the goods from her actors and even the filming in Seattle is somewhat refreshing.

Ultimately, liking Laggies comes down to finding joy in its simplicity and the cast.  It’s a charming film overall, with some nice moments that come in the form of light comedy and emotional beats are effective, without being overbearing.  I would even go one step further and praise its R-rating, as the film has a sense of naturalness to it, which was something to give is just a bit more authenticity.  It is a good film, nothing special, but there is plenty to enjoy here.

Video:

Encoding: MPEG-4

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Clarity/Detail: This is a solid transfer that features plenty of detail in order to capture the suburban and urban surroundings these characters are placed in.

Depth: Plenty of scenes featuring multiple characters in the foreground and background look good enough to call out the lack of issue, when it comes to this disc’s handling of dimensionality on screen.

Black Levels: Dark scenes do not provide much in the way of detail and feature some minor levels of crush, but nothing too major to hurt one’s understanding of what is on screen.

Color Reproduction: The color palette is somewhat saturated, though the details found in the clothing and some of the environments allow for some nice moments to observe the colors on display.

Flesh Tones: The natural lighting and sharp detail work allows for a nice contrast with the consistent facial textures seen here.

Noise/Artifacts: Nothing of note.

 

Audio:

Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

Subtitles: English and Spanish

Dynamics: This film not being an overly showy one in terms of the audio elements, it is of no surprise that this track is not out to overly impress, but it gets the job done for the most part, with score-heavy and crowd-heavy scenes being well represented.

Low Frequency Extension: The LFE channel gets a rest, aside from some soundtrack-based moments.

Surround Sound Presentation: There is some spread across the channels in the few crowded scenes in this film, such as parties and a prom, but for the most part, just enough is done to utilize a surround system, despite being so center-focused.

Dialogue Reproduction: Everyone comes in loud and clear.

Extras:

I was not expecting a ton form the extras, though more participation from the cast may have been nice.  That said, the disc does feature a commentary, which is always good enough for me.

Features Include:

• Deleted Scenes (HD, 9:31) – Just some extra bits and pieces.
• Audio Commentary with Director Lynn Shelton – Not the most engaging of tracks, but informative enough.
• “Lagging On with Lynn Shelton” Featurette (HD, 8:46) – A standard EPK, with interviews and clips, as one expects.
• “Shooting Seattle: The Look of Laggies” Featurette (HD, 6:01) – A look at the use of Seattle for the film’s location.
• UltraViolet Copy of the Film

Summary:

Laggies does not break any new ground, but it is a sweet enough comedy, with some nice performances, and enough in the way of female-character-based authenticity to make for a simple, yet entertaining film about growing up.  The Blu-ray is good enough as well, given the above average video and audio quality, along with the standard stock of extras.  Worth checking out, if you were intrigued.