Media

Home Theater Movie Renter's Guide - July, 2010

"Ladybugs" (Blu-ray) - Reviewed by Jim Milton

Synopsis

Chester Lee, a salesman gunning for a promotion, tries to butter up his boss by agreeing to coach his daughter's soccer team. One problem: the team is terrible, and it doesn't look as if they're going to have a winning season -- until Chester comes up with the novel idea of dressing up his fiancee's very athletic son in drag and having him join the team. What a clever scheme!

 

Commentary

What dreck! Ever wonder how a movie gets picked for blu-ray while other good movies wait in line (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.)? Basically, the movies premise is that girls are lousy at sports (soccer, in this case), so they need a boy to put on a wig, join the team, and lead them to victory. Nice. Dangerfield quips lame one-liners, an occasional crude remark and "presto": Comedy! Adults will be bored and teens left uninterested. The language is just bad enough that parents may not want their little ones to view this without guidance. The only ones that "don't get any respect" are the viewers. Kick this one to the curb.

Technical

Picture varies from very sharp and detailed, to grainy and soft. dirt specks appear frequently. During the championship game sequence, you can actually see that there are some boys with wigs moving the ball down field. What? No stunt girls? Colors are often very vivid (the neon colors from the 90's really glow). Sound is clear enough to make out what Rodney is muttering, but there is little surround action and even less for the sub. Hey, it's a soccer comedy, after all!

Extras

Nothing but a trailer. Would you have believed me if I said there was a 4 hour "making of" documentary?