More often than not I end up watching a very unsuccessful sequel for a successful film and find that some people are only trying to make a quick buck and not provide any quality. When I reviewed Without a Paddle: Nature’s Calling back in March, there was nothing of even remote interest for me to bother giving it a decent rating. Even to this day I can’t recall if the first film in this franchise is something I’ve viewed before even after watching it now for this review. But chances are that my interest in it then or in the future will still be the same as it is now…and that’s none. Amazing how people can make sequels to complete and total crap.
Tom, Jerry, Dan, and Billy were all childhood friends that were as close as brothers but have since moved on as they’ve gotten older. Tom, Jerry, and Dan have all returned home, though, but it isn’t for a reason they were looking forward too and that’s Billy’s funeral after an accident took his life. The three remaining friends reminisce about the old days when things were simpler and times were fun, but they know it won’t bring back their late friend. Still they want to pay honor to his memory and decide to go searching in the Oregon wilderness for a hidden treasure they had heard about as children and know is somewhere out there. It seems as if it would be an easy and fun-filled camping trip with huge rewards but there is far more out there then any of them could have ever imagined.
Ok, so this isn’t a complete waste of time or total crap, but it’s not really a good film. Those involved have no choice but to provide a little bit of comedy because they are just a bunch of funny guys and easy to laugh at. The story is actually quite believable and then soon turns rather nutso, but it’s an over the top comedy and that is to be expected honestly. It’s hard to really come up with much more to say about Without a Paddle because it isn’t bad and it isn’t good, but it’s not even really somewhere in the middle. You know those films that you may own the DVD but never opened it or just couldn’t bring yourself to want to see it bad enough to purchase it? Those films that you never have the urge to go out of your way to watch but if you caught it on TBS or TNT then you’d leave it on as background noise yet end up on the sofa checking it out? That’s where Without a Paddle falls and which is why I’d recommend checking it out but not if you have to put any effort out to do so.
I’ll tell you all this though. This film may not have made a lot of money at the box office and perhaps not even on home releases, but in no way did it merit a sequel that is bad on a scale of epic proportions.
The film is shown in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and it comes across pretty good. Lots of outdoor scenes and wilderness shots really test the specifications of your Blu-ray player a little bit and while not spectacular, still look good.
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and it also is middle of the line and decent enough for a viewing, but nothing to get overly excited about.
Audio Commentary – Director Steven Brill is sitting alone for this commentary track and he does a very basic discussion…err, with himself about shooting locations, behind the scenes work, and stories from the shoot. He tries to keep it lively but it’s really quite bland and gets old quickly.
Video Commentary – This commentary track is much better because it includes most of the main cast and Brill in a picture-in-picture window so you can watch the film and them at the same time. They don’t go much into the technical aspect of things but keep it lively and fun with lots of jokes. Hell, had the film been this funny then things wouldn’t look as blah.
MTV’s Making The Movie: Without a Paddle special.
Additional Scenes – There are thirteen additional scenes thrown in here that can be watched with or without commentary from Brill. I saw nothing worthy of staying in the film so it’s good that they were cut. Brill’s commentary is rather dull too so nothing much to worry about here.
6 MTV Interstitials – Basically this is a clever way of saying “teaser trailers.”
Theatrical Trailer
Without a Paddle is really without much of a chance. You see what I did there? The three leads in Shepard, Lillard, and Green have the capabilities of being much funnier but most of the laughs in this film are forced and expected making them dull and tiresome. Yet somehow the film still has a way of drawing you in and it’s hard to really place my finger as to how. It’s this reason that you’ll be flipping channels randomly and end up with this conversation with yourself.
“Hmmm, nothing on. Wait, that was Seth Green. I know this movie…what is it? Oh God, that’s Without a Paddle, forget that crap. But…there really isn’t anything else on.”
That’s how you’ll always catch the last hour or so of the film because you just find yourself stuck watching it. And that is how I can’t recommend purchasing this Blu-ray because the special features just don’t add up to enough to merit money being spent on anything you’ll receive in return. If you receive it as a gift or something though, then you’re kind of up Sh*t Creek without a pad…you get the idea.
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Paramount presents Without a Paddle. Directed by: Steven Brill. Starring: Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, Dax Shepard, Ethan Suplee, Burt Reynolds. Written by: Jay Leggett & Mitch Rouse. Running time: 98 minutes. Rating: PG-13. Released on DVD: May 12, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
