The Film
By Hollywood standards, Queen Latifah is an ugly ducking. Yes, the woman whose face graces ads for CoverGirl just can't seem to land a man -- at least not on her looks alone.
That's the premise of Just Wright, in which our Queen plays Leslie Wright. She's a guy's girl with a sense of humor, a great job, and an obsession with her precious New Jersey Nets. In other words, she would be the catch of the century, if it weren't for her looks. By chance, she meets star player Scott McKnight (Common) at a gas station and scores an invite to his birthday party. There, her much-cuter, much-thinner BFF Morgan (Paula Patton) snags the mega-star's initial interest.
By looking at the cover of the Blu-ray, you know what's going to happen. This film follows the rom-com rulebook to a tee, but drops most of the jokes. Instead, it's kind of infuriating that our Queen would be anyone's sloppy seconds.
That said, Just Wright is formulaic and hokey, but also sort of enjoyable. It's nice to see Queen Latifah take on a romantic lead. Above all, she is the one that makes this work. It's a good thing too, because the movie completely wastes appearances by Pam Grier, Phylicia Rashad and James Pickens Jr.
The Picture
Like watching the playoffs, this 2.40:1 transfer shines best during the action on the court. One scene features a sea of blue shirts, and the jerseys in general just pop right off the screen. Other colors are nice too, such as skintones and the fresh gold paint on Leslie's crapmobile. The film has a teeny bit of grain and a dark party scene has a twinge of yellow. Overall though, the colors are bold. The detail is really nice too, all the way down to Common's finely crafted beard and strategically placed beads of sweat.
The Sound
Just Wright delivers more audio than your standard rom-com. The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack does the dialogue nicely, but manages to squeeze in a little more. From the beginning of the movie, there's a burst of music and clanging breakfast dishes. After that, the track offers a decent amount of ambient noise for your surrounds, which is mostly restaurant and party chatter. However, this audio is most impressive on the court, displaying the boom of bouncing basketballs and roar of the crowd (as well as the boos) rather nicely across the entire soundfield.
The Extras
Just Wright offers a slim amount of extras, with brief peeks at various parts of the movie. "The One You Can't Live Without" is seven minutes of promo material, where cast, producers and other crew members explain the movie. There's also another five minutes on how Common transformed into the best player in the NBA (on-screen, of course). Then, "When Amazing Happens" is seven minutes about using actual NBA players in the film. This short could have been a lot longer, covering more of the famous figures in the movie, including some of the sportscasters.
The release lacks a commentary track, which could have been especially interesting during the film's moments on the court. Also, what does Queen Latifah have to do to get her own featurette?
Final Thoughts
Rom-com fans might enjoy the sports twist, but Just Wright isn't Jerry Maguire. Go into the film knowing that it's going to follow your usual Hollywood formula, and it won't be such a bad way to blow 101 minutes of your life. However, aside from a nice image and audio, the movie isn't very memorable, which may make Just Wright the wrong purchase for your Blu-ray collection.
Product Details
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