Blu-ray Review
All About Steve
Directed by: Phil Traill
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, Thomas Haden Church, Ken Jeong
Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: PG-13
Due Out: December 22, 2009
Buy All About Steve on Amazon
PLOT: Mary (Bullock) is a crossword puzzle constructionist who knows about everything except certain social boundaries. She falls for news cameraman Steve, (Cooper) and follows him across the country as he and his crew (Jeong and Church) attempt to make a name for themselves.
WHO'S IT FOR?: Only fans of Sandra Bullock have the potential to like her character.
MOVIE:
There's something extremely odd about Mary. It's not just her constant rambling, the fact that she didn't get the memo on how social interactions work, or even those damn red boots. It's more the idea that she exists. Somehow, a large group of people believed that a character so obnoxious could be revealed to be endearing, despite never making us laugh once. Bullock's Mary is a large failure in a story's attempt to have a quirky character touch the goofy parts of our heart. But as we watch her hopelessly stalk regular guy Steve, we can only share in his pain as she continues to throw herself back into his life. If anything, the only feeling an audience could experience this movie is pity for the poor guy who got called out on the non-literal meanings of his charming flirt-talk.
At the same time, it may not just be Mary, but the entire package of All About Steve. Perhaps for sake of self-amusement, the movie has a very weird sense of humor, with plot elements involving deaf children falling into a big hole and a baby with three legs. There's a subplot with Thomas Haden Church playing a news anchor desperate to achieve his heroic journalistic moment, but such remarkably lame satire doesn't speak beyond the idea that "the news isn't trust worthy."
There is no reason for a movie like All About Steve to exist. Every actor has certainly seen better scripts (from The Hangover to The Proposal,) and its leading character Mary is the antichrist to comedy. I have seen movies about genocide with more laughs.
MOVIE SCORE: 1/10
EXTRAS
Hollywood Dish with Mina Micheletti - Kerry Kenney (you might recognize her from Reno 911) dons a wig and asks the star of the movie dumb questions. This special feature continues two particular elements that seem to pop up often in the movie – there’s more weak parody of journalism, and it has a funny percentage of zero.
Bradley Cooper and Ken Jeong's A Capella Duet - The two stars make up a song with the words "All About Steve," while dancing in front of a green screen that plays clips from the movie.
Crew Snapshots to Mary's Rap - My head blows up into little pieces just thinking about this one. There is indeed a rap song, but it's not even sung by Bullock. The song tells the entire story of All About Steve, and it is accompanied by photos of what must be every person on the crew. Is this the movie's way of thanking them for not picketing the film when it came out? Regardless, this is the weirdest extra I've ever seen.
OTHER EXTRAS:
Commentary with Kim Barker, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church, Bradley Cooper, Ken Jeong, and Phil Traill Deleted/Alternate Scenes Gag Reel All About All About Steve Fox Movie Channel presents Life After Film School with Phil Traill Trailers
EXTRAS SCORE: 4/10
OVERALL By looking at its number, this Blu-ray has a decent amount of extras. However, the pain and the pointlessness of the actual film is continued into the special features, making this Blu-ray package a laughless abyss where even a gag reel can't offer any sort of salvation. Many of the extras are so disappointing it's practically embarrassing, which is saying a lot when considering it uses the same people who helped create something as wholly annoying as All About Steve.
FINAL SCORE: 3/10