Something’s Gotta Give Blu Ray Review (Sony Pictures)

Something’s Gotta Give is a 2003 romantic comedy film written, produced, and directed by Nancy Meyers (The Intern, It’s Complicated, Father of the Bride Part 3, The Holiday, The Parent Trap, and What Women Want). It was produced by Bruce A. Block (Christmas with the Kranks, The Holiday, America’s Sweethearts, What Women Want, The Parent Trap, Father of the Bride franchise, and I Love Trouble). The budget was $80,000,000 and it grossed $265,328,837 worldwide at the box office. Playboy Harry Sanborn (played by: Jack Nicholson from The Shining, Chinatown, The Departed, Easy Rider, As Good as It Gets, Batman, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) suffers some chest pains during a romantic weekend with his latest infatuation Marin (played by: Amanda Peet from A Lot Like Love, The Whole Nine Yards, Identity, and Saving Silverman) at her mother’s beach house. He winds up being nursed by Marin’s reluctant mother Erica Barry (played by: Diane Keaton from Annie Hall, Reds, The Family Stone, Father of the Bride franchise, Crimes of the Heart, and The Godfather franchise), a successful divorced New York playwright. Their time together develops more heart pangs the romantic kind for her but some habits die hard. When Harry hesitates, his charming doctor Julian Mercer (played by: Keanu Reeves from Bill and Ted franchise, The Matrix franchise, John Wick franchise, Speed, Point Break, and The Gift) steps in and starts to pursue Erica. Harry, who has always had the world on a string, finds his life unraveling!!!! Director Nancy Meyers is one of the best when it comes to the romantic comedy. She just knows how to write so perfectly for this sub-genre. She brings the best out of her performers even when they are out of their comfort zone. I love how it flips everything, Harry Sanborn is all about younger women and he somehow falls for someone closer to his age after some health problems force to him to relax for a little bit. Oscar winner Jack Nicholson is top notch as the womanizing Harry Sanborn. This role is close to the real life of the legend but he still manages to make it special. He is wealthy and powerful so he uses it to his advantage for the dating world. He can get whatever he wants so he doesn’t even think about anyone older until he spends more time with Erica Barry. Oscar winner Diane Keaton is amazing as the accomplished writer that has gotten familiar with being alone since her divorce. She shows up to her beach house to do some work and she finds her much younger daughter with an older man. She’s instantly offended and she doesn’t think highly of her unexpected guest. Her daughter convinces her to help the weaken Harry while he tries to get back to himself. They end up running into each other all the time at odd hours and they bond out of nowhere. The chemistry is excellent between these 2 acting legends, it feels so natural and organic. Amanda Peet is the stunning Marin. She’s just having fun and she doesn’t take anything seriously but her situation causes all of this random romance. Keanu Reeves goes against typecasting as Dr. Julian Mercer. This is one of his most underrated performances in Something’s Gotta Give. He proves that he can handle humor and relationships with this surprising role. He gets stuck in a hilarious love triangle with Harry and Erica. Oscar winner Frances McDormand (Fargo, Blood Simple, Darkman, Almost Famous, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) shows up as Erica’s best friend Zoe. I love this character, she can pull off anything. She’s always feisty, blunt, and she helps push Erica to finally get out there after all this time. The rest of the supporting cast includes Jon Favreau (Iron Man franchise), Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky and Hutch), Rachel Ticotin (Total Recall), TJ Thyne (Bones), Patrick Fischler (Mulholland Drive), Paige Butcher (Big Momma’s House 2), Daniella Van Graas (Perfect Stranger), Vanessa Trump (The Apprentice), Audrey Wasilewski (Mad Men), Roxanne Beckford (Dexter), Robin Pearson Rose (Annabelle), Lorna Scott (Promising Young Woman), Nichole Hiltz (May), and KaDee Strickland (Private Practice). Something’s Gotta Give has a nice build up to everything. It really gets the audience invested into the leads during their complicated journey. They both go through so much after meeting each other. I honestly appreciate the fact that it focuses on older people when it comes to love. That almost never happens in a mainstream production and it was taking a huge risk doing this type of film in that age range because that particular crowd usually stays at home rather than going to a newer movie in a theater. Something’s Gotta Give is humorous, charming, dramatic, romantic, and full of heart as it all blends into one complete story. Something’s Gotta Give is funny, entertaining, and easy to watch. It has incredible replay value to it, I always revisit it every few years and it just gets better with time. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Sony Pictures! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer looks great and sharper than ever for it’s Blu Ray debut. I can’t believe this successful comedy feature last had a home video release in 2004 on DVD. This is a major improvement compared to all of it’s older versions, hopefully it gets a UHD upgrade someday but it took 22 years to make it on Blu Ray so it might take awhile. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on the disc. Something’s Gotta Give has an impressive soundtrack that includes Earth Wind and Fire, Marvin Gaye, Crazy Town, C+C Music Factory, Paul Simon, The Flamingos, and others that stands out the most when it comes to the audio here. All of the dialogue is crisp, the romance is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with director Nancy Meyers and lead actor Jack Nicholson. It has an additional “Audio Commentary” with director Nancy Meyers, lead actress Diane Keaton, and producer Bruce A. Block. It’s extremely rare to get either Jack Nicholson or Diane Keaton involved with any special features for their work so this is a home video miracle. Both tracks are very different from each other so they are fun companion pieces. It’s always nice to have other options when going back to something. It gives it a fresh experience each time. They are full of detailed information and personal stories from the bigger production. It covers a little bit of everything. They mainly stick to a scene by scene style which is a fun narrative. It has the almost 3 minute deleted scene “Harry Sings Karaoke to Erica”. This was actually really good and I’m a little surprised that it didn’t make the final cut. It has the almost 3 minute “Hamptons House Set Tour” with actress Amanda Peet. It’s a quick look at the main location for this rom com. The actress shows off a variety of locations that were used in this. She brings in some of the behind the scenes crew while telling some stories. It has the “Theatrical Trailer” for Something’s Gotta Give. There’s no brand new extras here but it carried over all of the previous bonus material. It’s available everywhere right now including Moviezyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!