Before I Fall - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Before I Fall

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Before I Fall pretty much GIVES AWAY the ending of the film with that tag line on the cover. Kind of a mix between a teenage Groundhog Day and Carrie, it’s delves into the idea of a single day repeating over, and over, and over, over again, ad nasueum, until the main character “learns” something that will change the course of that repetitive day. The only problem is, Before I Fall tends to wallow in teenage valley girl clichés for the first hour of the film, until it finally brings the final course of the movie to light. And by that time, the fluffy semblance of a plot has stolen much of the weight of that final act away from it, and you’re left feeling like “what might have been” rather than enjoying what was actually a pretty interesting twist on the whole Groundhog Day theory (despite the very obvious telegraphing of the end of the movie, and obvious clue as to WHAT part of the day Samantha would need to change her fate from the start of the film).

Samantha Kingston (Zoey Deutch) is waking up to what will be the best day of her bubblegum chomping teenage life. It’s valentine’s day and she is going to lose her virginity to her boyfriend Rob that night (Kian Lawley) while her three best friends, Ally (Cynthy Wu), Elody (Medallion Rahimi) and Lindsay (Halston Sage) cheer her milestone on. Sam is one of the most popular girls at her high schools and basically one of the crew from Mean Girls. With Lindsay egging them on, the four girls make fun of the school lesbian, and abuse the school outcast, Juliet Skyes (Elena Kampouris), mercilessly. Getting ready for her big night with Rob, something happens, and Samantha is forced to relive that same day over, and over, and over again with the same result. She wakes back up in her own bed and is forced to figure out what went wrong.

The plot is rather simple. A girl who had coasted by on her laurels for way too long is forced to relive a day until she learns some kind of “lesson”. It’s pretty obvious from the very get go what is going on. Sam’s a sweet girl, but she has spent way too much time with Lindsay and her brutal treatment of others, so she engages in cruel high school cliché behavior that ostracizes several people around her. The premise is rather intriguing, but the execution ham fisted and blatantly obvious. The school lesbian is one thing, but Juliet is focused on EVERY….SINGLE…TIME the day repeats, and even though you know that she’s the key to the whole thing, the movie keeps Samantha in the dark until the very last few moments where she tries to atone for all of the problems that she’s created and undue the trap that she’s in.

I actually liked Zoey Deutch in Why Him? It was a cute (but stupid) little comedy and Zoey plays an adorably likeable daughter. Before I Fall has Zoey being cute and adorable too, but TRYING to play the angsty high school teenager (which always amuses me as the people playing high schoolers tend to be people in their mid to late 20s instead of 17-18 like they’re supposed to portray). This feels kind of odd, with her supposedly being a complete witch to Juliet and the other non popular girls, but exuding that sweet, cute charm that made her so likeable in Why Him?. It’s a strange dichotomy that leaves you kind of wondering just how much you’re supposed to like Samantha, and home much you’re supposed to hate her for what she’s done to the people around her.

The film works on a basic level, but there is soooooooooooooooooooooooo much teenage angst and wannabe hair twirling that it got kind of distracting. The film obviously was catering to the young adult crowd, and with that comes all of the angst, immaturity and teenage dynamics that keep most young adults from getting as big as say, The Hunger Games or even Divergent. High school pettiness (and yes, we really were that petty back in high school) and over indulgence in giddy school girl stupidity keep the film from being as impactful as it could be, but there’s still enough intrigue and curiosity to the film to inspire me to keep watching.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content involving drinking, sexuality, bullying, some violent images, and language-all involving teens.




Video:

Before I Fall was shot with digital cameras in a highly stylized way, employing lots of shades of darkness with a blue/gray color palate that leans toward a very bleak and somber tone to the film. Colors are dim and not prone to popping like most films, but the primaries that are used are usually the deep maroon of a rose, or the golden/green tones used during the famous party that happens over and over. Facial details are usually sharp, but the film has a decidedly diffused and soft look to it most of the time (seemingly intentionally so), and the fine detail can vary from scene to scene as the gauzy look of the film shifts around. Daylight shots in the high school look the sharpest, while the darker party scenes tend to go back to being slightly soft, with heavy HEAVY darks that actually border on serious crush unless you have a display that handles black levels EXTREMELY well (my LCD didn’t like the black levels a whole lot, but my JVC handled them a lot better. The situation almost reminded me of Godzilla where the encoded black levels were soooooooooooooooo deep that many an inferior display had a problem with them unless they were viewed on something that had highly capable black levels).






Audio:

Before I Fall features a very solid, if not basic, 5.1 DTS-HD MA track. The score is soft and flowing throughout (although it features a bit too many goofy pop songs for my taste) and the dialog is strong and cleanly replicated in the front center channel. The rears get some mild use with ambient noises (especially during the car crash and with the score), but most of the time we have a very capable front heavy track that does exactly what is required of it. Channel the ambiance of a high school and a party scene with plenty of dialog. Vocals are nice, LFE is impressive when it shows up, and the surrounds get enough workout to give the track a nice, well rounded, feel to it. It’s nothing special, but it’s more than capable of getting the job down without any issues.
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Extras:

• Previews

Final Score: ​

I didn’t read the young adult book that Before I Fall was taken from, but from what I gather it was pretty middle of the road as well, and seems to be decently represented here on screen. The thing is, it’s a subject matter and execution that appeals to ONLY the young adult audience, and isn’t tailored for a more mature audience (or at least palatable to a more mature audience) like some other young adult films/books have done in the past. It’s a decent watch, and I honestly don’t regret the hour and 40 minutes that I spent watching Before I Fall, but I can’t in good conscience say it was GOOD either. Audio and video were solid for the genre (the video has been heavily stylized), but the film is lacking any real extras (besides a few lone previews of other films) and the entire experience just leaves a very “meh” taste in your mouth. Rental material only.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Zoey Deutch, Halston Sage, Cynthy Wu
Directed by: Ry Russo-Young
Written by: Maria Maggenti (Screenplay), Lauren Oliver (Based on the Novel by)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 99 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: May 30th, 2017

Image

• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Rental

 

[Sonnie]

Looks like an interesting movie... like you say, maybe a rental, don't think I'd watch it more than once.

Looks like an interesting movie... like you say, maybe a rental, don't think I'd watch it more than once.

Looks like an interesting movie... like you say, maybe a rental, don't think I'd watch it more than once.

Looks like an interesting movie... like you say, maybe a rental, don't think I'd watch it more than once.

Looks like an interesting movie... like you say, maybe a rental, don't think I'd watch it more than once.

 

[Michael Scott]

lol, IC what you did there

 

[Todd Anderson]

My oldest daughter and her friends avidly follows a YouTuber that made an appearance in this film... needless to say, she loved the movie. ;-)

I have a feeling a copy of this will be in our home.

 

[Michael Scott]

lol, it's not that bad Todd. If your girls loved it I wouldn't worry too much. You just probably aren't going to be yanking out the JVC , a six pack and a bowl of popcorn and invite over the guys if you know what I mean

 

[Todd Anderson]

Ha! Well... I'm always looking for an excuse to do that. BUT, I'll take the hint and reserve that for another flick.

300 maybe?

 

[Michael Scott]

lol, don't forget we have John Wick 2 coming up in a couple of weeks

 

[Todd Anderson]

Believe me... that's on preorder!

Mike, out of curiosity, do you find that you have to tweak TV settings with some of these 4K titles? (Boost brightness or tweak contrast) to get a great image?

 

[Michael Scott]

Believe me... that's on preorder!

Mike, out of curiosity, do you find that you have to tweak TV settings with some of these 4K titles? (Boost brightness or tweak contrast) to get a great image?

uggg, that's something that's constant frustration. I don't have to constantly tweak it, but I do shift some settings around because there seems to be no standard for HDR yet. As such I don't have some standard calibration settings that everyone can use on their TV as each TV handles it differently and makes it very frustrating. It'll be nice once there's some standardized ISF style settings for other people to use. Right now it's just "guess, test and revise"

 

[Sonnie]

This would likely be a good subject for a new thread, would it not? Maybe some others with 4K are doing the same.

 

[Michael Scott]

good idea. time to add a new thread in the 4K display section