Catch and Release
Bill Geiger on September 7th, 2008
Call me girly but as I get older, I am starting to appreciate romantic films and love stories. I don’t know what it is but I am willing to deal with it as long as I continue to like mindless action films as well. Released back in 2007, Catch and Release is a film that just may surprise you in that along with romance, there is some light comedy and even has Kevin Smith in the film too. Yes, that Kevin Smith.
Gray (Jennifer Garner) is recently widowed. The day of her fiancé’s funeral was also to be the day she was to be married. Faced with the fact that she is going to be all alone, she decides to move in with her fiancé’s two friends Sam (Kevin Smith) and Dennis (Sam Jaeger) to avoid being lonely. What she doesn’t except is to find love again as the man she was to marry was all she was looking for.
One day Gray is faced with a secret that her fiancé had kept from her. It will take all of the love from her friends to get through the rough times ahead in dealing with this massive secret.
I was truly surprised that I liked Catch and Release as much as I did. Mind you it wasn’t the greatest movie I have ever seen but it was one I have zero problems suggesting to someone. I( really enjoyed the acting performance of Jennifer Garner and Kevin Smith. It was nice seeing Smith be something other than Silent Bob. Getting back to Garner, she can easily carry a film as a headliner, as long as she stays away from films like Elektra. I know it sounds cliché, but the camera really does love her and she is just a pleasure to watch on film.
It should be mentioned that performances by both Timothy Olyphant and Juliette Lewis were also welcomed.
Video
The 2.40:1 transfer on Catch and Release is very clean and free of any dirt or specs. This transfer is not one that will blow you away in any way. The colors never really come out and grab you which is a huge disappointment. Colors are just middle of the road and the skin tones look fine. I didn’t notice any kind of edge enhancement.
Also, like many of the films I watch, I always seem to notice some sort of shimmering. With Catch and Release, I never did notice it and that was a refreshing change. This was really a simple, middle of the road transfer that
Audio
Catch and Release comes with three audio tracks. The PCM Uncompressed 5.1 soundtrack that I listened to was pretty darn good for a dialogue driven film. The films music soundtrack sounded great through my speakers. I had no issues with any kind of hissing or crackling. It was a very nice audio track with all of the dialogue coming through the front channels.
Also available is English and French Dolby Digital 5.1. Seven subtitle tracks are also available.
Special Features
- Commentary with Writer/Director Susannah Grant and Kevin Smith
- Commentary with Writer/Director Susannah Grant and Cinematographer John Lindley
- From Concept to Completion Featurette
- This is a very nice featurette where it is discussed how the film came about and why it was written the way it was. Also, you get to hear directly from the writer and first time director Susannah Grant on her experience with this film. Also, many of the cast give their feedbacks on the film.
- Auditions
- Kevin Smith
- Sam Jaeger
- Juliette Lewis
- Deleted Scenes
- Uncle John’s Band
- Whistling is not allowed
Finals Thoughts
I decided to review this film because I was looking to give Jennifer Garner a chance. I enjoyed watching her in Juno but wanted to see how she could handle a leading role. Having never seen Elektra, and I don’t think I missed anything there, Jennifer Garner held up very well with Catch and Release. I enjoyed the film, I really did. At times, I felt the direction it was taking was the wrong way to go but aside from that, overall, I came away happy having watched it.
If there is any guy out there looking to make the wife or girlfriend happy, pick this up and enjoy it along with her.
