Without A Paddle DVD Review:

Childhood best friends Tom (Shepard), Jerry (Lillard) and Dan (Green) come together for the funeral of the other member of their gang, Billy. Now nearly thirty and living their lives, the trio return to their old tree house to find that Billy has left them something, a treasure map to the location of the missing money that was stolen by D.B. Cooper thirty years ago. Deciding to honour his memory they set out on the adventure of a lifetime, with only the wilderness between them and glory.

A group of friends coming together for one last adventure to look for a hidden treasure, sound familiar?

This is a movie that is trying to be a grown up version of ‘The Goonies’ but it just doesn’t have the style, magic or budget to compete with that cult classic. Instead we have an average story, with some pantomime villains that is only saved by the performances of the three leads.

Matthew Lillard, Seth Green and Dax Shepard are the only reason to watch the movie, as their performances are a lot better than the script deserves. Anyone who has watched the Scooby Doo films will know that Matthew Lillard is a fine comedic actor, when given the chance. As Jerry, he plays the one out of the trio who is scared of commitment and really starting his life. The role is far too lacking for Lillard’s proven talents but he manages to make the character endearing. Seth Green play the fear riddled Dan with ease. While he might be the most intelligent of the group, as he is a doctor, he is also the butt of all the jokes and the one who gets in the most scrapes. Dax Shepard makes his jump to the big screen with ease. Best know as one of Ashton Kutcher’s field agents in the MTV series Punk’d, Shepard shows that he is also a gifted comedic actor and he makes the unlucky and constantly lying Tom, the highlight of the film.

Supporting the three leads we have Ethan Suplee and Abraham Benrubi as stereotypical Southern American’s who are obsessed with guns and not too clever. These characters are well below the acting talents of theses two performers and they deserve a lot better than this. A fleeting cameo by a barely recognisable Burt Reynolds and fleeting appearances by Bonnie Somerville, Rachel Blanchard and Christina Moore add little to the story, as they don’t get enough time to shine.

Without a Paddle had the potential to be a grown up version of a classic Treasure flick, but what you have is a missed opportunity. A good cast is let down by an unimaginative script, that doesn’t push the material far enough, which is a shame as there was a lot of potential here.

Star Rating = * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack, this is an excellent transfer, as you’d except from a modern film. The picture quality captures the great outdoor setting of the movie by been sharp throughout, even during the night scenes. The sound quality is also good, with clear dialogue and some good surround sound moments during the funny action sequences such as the bear chase and the rapids.

BONUS FEATURES

Audio Commentary by Director Steven Brill

This informative and chatty commentary is quite a fun one to listen to. As a rule tracks with only one participant are usually not that great but director Steven Brill is quite happy to chat about a film that he clearly had fun making. He reveals secrets about casting, deleted scenes, the characters and what it was like shooting in New Zealand. The director also gives away a lot of backstage gossip from the film, mostly at his cast’s expense.

Video Commentary by the Director and Cast

Director Steven Brill and stars Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, Dax Shepard, Ethan Suplee and Abraham Benrubi come together to provide audio and video commentary on ‘Without a Paddle’. As the audio commentary continues through the movie, on occasion a screen will open up and show the director and cast recording their track. This happens when the group want to highlight some visually and it really adds to the track. This is a group of actors that really got along well while making this movie and it really shows in the track, which is funny and extremely chatty throughout.

MTV’s Making the Movie: Without a Paddle (18.12 mins)

Director Steven Brill and stars Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, Dax Shepard, Abraham Benrubi, Rachel Blanchard, Christina Moore and Burt Reynolds take you behind the scenes of ‘Without a Paddle’. Taking about their characters, the story and the amount of training that went into the film, the director and cast reveal the sheer amount of fun they had on the set. The featurette also looks into what it was like working with the bear and the dangers encountered by Seth Green, Matthew Lillard and Dax Shepard while filming the white water rapids sequences.

Additional Scenes (23.11 mins)

Entitled ‘Graduation’, ‘Jerry’s Office’, ‘Jerry/Denise’s House’, ‘Parking’, ‘Mr Mott’s Office’, ‘Long fight/Tom Leaves’, ‘Billy Funeral’, ‘Bar Scene’, ‘Boys meet the Sheriff’, ‘Nose hair’, ‘Fish heads’, ‘Fish heads/shadows’ and ‘Boy Scouts’, these additional scenes all have optional commentary by director Steven Brill.

Theatrical Trailer (2.25 mins)
Watch the preview that promoted the movie in the cinema.

MTV interstitials (2.36 mins)

Entitled ‘Camping Inferno’, ‘Thoughts Vegas’, ‘Slurpee Brain Freeze’, ‘Sleeping bag and 2 girls’, ‘Bear Attack’ and ‘Flashlight’, these are original TV spots made for MTV.

OVERALL

Paramount has done a good job with the DVD transfer of ‘Without a Paddle’. Fans will enjoy the two very good commentary tracks, especially the very funny video track, and the addition of a good making of… featurette and deleted scenes only add to the value.



Jamie Kelwick