DVD Reviews

Bart Got A Room

Ever read the synopsis for a film and think, that sounds like a funny movie only to watch it and wonder where the funny went?  Well, Bart Got a Room, is one of those films. While the film is filled with quirky characters and has a great setup for a standard fun filled movie, it falls very short from how it is marketed.  The trailer gives the impression of a mildly humorous film, yet we are actually treated with what seems like the drama taken directly from the life of writer/director Brian Hecker. Where are the gags? Where is the witty banter? What about the slapstick? Heck, give us some bizarre situations!  Not having a date for the prom isn’t anything new.  It happens to many, many teens every year. And while their peers may laugh at them for being losers, this film is far from something to laugh at.

Nerdy high school senior Danny (Steven Kaplan) spent six hundred bucks on the hotel room, the limo and the tux for his prom. He’s only missing one thing—the girl. Hampered by well-intentioned but clueless advice from his newly-divorced parents (William H. Macy and Cheryl Hines), as well as unsympathetic mocking from his best friends (Brandon Hardesty, Alia Shawkat), Danny battles peer pressure, teen angst and his own raging hormones as he desperately searches for a prom date. Danny’s luckless quest turns to panic when he learns that even Bart—the school’s biggest dweeb—has secured not only a date, but also a hotel room for the night.

The video on this DVD comes in at a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and is adequate at best.  Colours are well reproduced with skin tones ringing through true but that’s the best thing about the presentation.  Grain is apparent as is the occasional artifacting, which can be a little distracting at times.  The picture is soft and detail isn’t what one would expect from a new film like this.  Audio is also a little less than desired for a newer film but with this film being very dialogue centric, you can somewhat forgive this shortcoming.   

In the extras department this DVD does a little better than a barebones release. The DVD opens with trailers for The Education of Charlie Banks, Strike, Table for Three and Crash, but none of these are available from the extras menu. What are available from the menu are trailers for While She Was Out, Sex and Death 101, The Grand, Hollywood Residential, and Surfer, Dude as is the theatrical trailer for Bart Got a Room. The trailer makes the film look a lot better than it actually is (as any good trailer should). The final and possibly biggest extra is a popup video styled “commentary” which has information bubbles pop up sporadically throughout the film.  A good portion of the information has to do with the director and his family, where he lived, and his growing up.  Lacking is a good deal of information about the actual film and the actors involved which is disappointing.

If you haven’t figured out that I’m not exactly pleased with this film, I’ll just come out and say it.  Don’t bother renting, buying or even watching it for free at a friend’s house if you’re looking for a laugh out loud comedy.  This film is charming and had the film been shot more like a drama, it might have been able to play the sympathy card allowing you to feel for the characters.  To work even remotely as a comedy it needed to be less predictable.  Perhaps had it gone in a direction nobody could have thought of it might have felt fresh and new. Heck, had it played the sex card a little more heavily using more of the beautiful actors like Ashley Benson or the girl who looked similar to Elisha Cuthbert (she did nothing more than step out of her car, enter the restaurant and leave and yet managed to exude so much sex appeal).  Perhaps I’m being a little hard on this film but I didn’t take anything away from it and the DVD presentation isn’t helping its case much.

Review By Rob Harding