What to Expect When You're Expecting Blu-ray Review

Lionsgate Films has equipped "What to Expect When You're Expecting" with a highly impressive AVC encoded 1080p transfer in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Critically speaking, the Blu-ray presentation stands out for its remarkable sharpness and definition. This high-definition display effortlessly transitions from brightly lit outdoor scenes to dimmer indoor settings, maintaining solid contrast and fine object detail throughout. The primary colors are richly saturated and robust, although minor stability issues were noted in a few establishing shots of Atlanta. Overall, Lionsgate continues to deliver superior quality even for films that may not be critical darlings.

In terms of clarity, the transfer excels with pristine visuals that highlight facial details such as brow lines, smile creases, and the sweat beads on characters—demonstrating an impeccable level of detail, especially during close-ups. Mid-range shots are equally impressive with well-defined edges on various objects, including trees, leaves, and strollers in park scenes. The warm and inviting color palette is consistent with the romantic comedy genre, leaning slightly towards warmer skin tones without being overly distracting. The black levels are commendable, providing deep and realistic nighttime scenes with well-depicted shadows. Despite the film's content lacking some substance, its visual presentation is undeniably top-notch, epitomizing high-definition quality.

The audio presentation of "What to Expect When You're Expecting" is provided in a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix, which may be viewed as overkill for this genre. Nonetheless, the mix gets off to an impressive start with dynamic use of salsa music and crowd sounds during Diaz's Dance Routine scene. Here, discrete channelization is effectively employed, particularly in moments like an audience member's shout. Throughout the film, several large crowd scenes and numerous source cues utilize the surround channels efficiently, enhancing the auditory experience. Dialogue clarity is impeccable, maintaining a strong fidelity and surprisingly wide dynamic range for a romantic comedy.

Despite the technical merits of the 7.1 mix, its necessity is questionable given the film's predominantly front-centric audio requirements. "What to Expect When You're Expecting" is largely dialogue-driven, resulting in most of the audio being concentrated in the front soundfield. There are standout instances, such as a golf cart race and scenes from the film’s version of 'Dancing with the Stars,' where the side and rear speakers are employed to great effect, providing enveloping surround sound. However, outside of these scenes, the extra channels added by the 7.1 setup do not receive sufficient content to justify their inclusion fully. This limitation does not detract from the technical integrity of the audio but highlights the challenges of filling an extensive sound field with this particular film's audio source material.

The Blu-ray extras for "What to Expect When You're Expecting" offer viewers a multifaceted look into the film's inspiration and additional context about pregnancy from a male perspective. One highlight is "The Dudes Unscrewed," focusing on Chris Rock's character and featuring amusing confessionals that outshine some of the film's content. "What to Expect and the Pregnancy Bible" explores the enduring impact of the book that inspired the movie, with insights from Director Kirk Jones and actress Cameron Diaz. Additionally, audiences can delve into deleted scenes and view the theatrical trailer, though the former may not add substantial value.

Extras included in this disc:

• The Dudes Unscrewed: Details the men's group led by Chris Rock, providing humorous insights.
• What to Expect and the Pregnancy Bible: Discusses the influence of the book on newly pregnant women.
• Deleted Scenes: A collection of scenes not included in the final cut, shown with timecode captions.
• Theatrical Trailer: The official trailer for the film.

"What to Expect When You're Expecting," a film adaptation of the famed self-help book, struggles mainly due to its flimsy source material and overpopulated ensemble cast. Director Kirk Jones attempts to mask the weak foundation with the star power of familiar faces such as Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, and Anna Kendrick. Unfortunately, this results in a convoluted and ultimately shallow portrayal of pregnancy, relying heavily on clichéd scenarios and predictable humor. The film oscillates between so-called comedic moments and overly sentimental scenes with little success, failing to create substantial connections between the audience and the characters.

The cast's portrayals span various stereotypical roles: Diaz as a celebrity fitness trainer, Lopez as a photographer opting for adoption, and Banks as an uptight baby shop owner. These characters are joined by a slew of other prominent actors whose performances, though competent, cannot salvage the material. The narrative tries to inject humor through a new dads' support group led by Chris Rock, yet these scenes also succumb to predictable and thinly veiled jokes that lack genuine originality or depth. The only arc that comes close to engaging is Anna Kendrick's subplot, which touches on more serious facets of pregnancy but quickly reverts to formulaic resolutions.

Technically, the film offers respectable production values, set primarily in Atlanta, adding a degree of localized charm. However, this cannot overshadow the paper-thin plotlines and over-reliance on star power to camouflage a lack of substantial storytelling. Overall, "What to Expect When You're Expecting" ultimately resembles a series of uninspired one-liners searching for coherence in a narrative that aims for broad comedy but lands mostly on mediocrity. If surface-level humor and a parade of celebrity cameos distract effectively, this film might entertain; otherwise, it leaves much to be desired.

"What to Expect When You're Expecting" presents a tapestry of interlocking narratives with pregnancy as the central theme. Despite the participation of an ensemble cast, the film struggles to maintain engagement, largely due to its predictable and uninspired storytelling. Although there are moments designed to evoke laughter and emotional response, the overall execution feels lackluster, making it difficult for viewers to connect with any of the numerous characters. While some supporting performances manage to shine, they are overshadowed by the film’s reliance on overused pregnancy clichés and contrived plot points.

Visually and audibly, the Blu-ray format ensures a satisfactory experience, with clear audio and sharp image quality. However, these technical merits are insufficient to salvage a film that feels more like an endurance test than entertainment. The lone standout narrative featuring Anna Kendrick highlights what the film could have been – a more focused and less cluttered exploration of the complexities of impending parenthood.

In conclusion, "What to Expect When You're Expecting" is largely underwhelming, offering little beyond its surface-level charm of star-studded appearances and technical competence. It delivers exactly what it sets out to and nothing more, making it difficult to recommend.