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Miss March (2009)

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Blu-ray Disc Released: 7/28/2009

All Ratings out of
Movie:
Video:
Audio: 1/2
Extras:

Review by Mike Long, Posted on 8/20/2009

With the availability of home video and downloads, everyone should be used to watching independent films by now. (Aside: OK, I know that's not true. There are still plenty of people who only watch the most mainstream of mainstream films. And then there's my favorites, the people who only rent movies that they've already seen. Trust me, they exist.) Because of this, we've grown accustomed to watching movies where we didn't know any of the actors -- even if we are convinced that we know them and IMDB.com tells us otherwise. But, when was the last time that you saw a movie from a major studio where you didn't know the "stars". That was the case with Miss March, a comedy from Fox which featured one familiar face in a supporting role.

Eugene (Zach Cregger) and Tucker (Trevor Moore) are high-school buddies who have been life-long best friends despite their diverse personalities. Eugene is a quite and considerate young man who is a virgin and has the utmost respect for girls. Tucker is an immature moron who is obsessed with sex. Eugene's girlfriend, Cindi (Raquel Alessi), states that as they've been dating for two years, she's ready to have sex, and they agree to go all the way on prom night. But, just as Eugene is about to bed Cindi, he's in an accident which places him in a coma. He awakens four years later to find that his world has changed. His father has moved out of town and Cindi is gone. Tucker is the only one who has remained faithful. Eugene is desperate to find Cindy, but isn't sure where to start until Tucker points out that she's the current centerfold in Playboy. The two decide to journey to L.A. to confront Cindi at the Playboy Mansion. Due to some poor relationship moves by Tucker, the two find themselves not only driving cross-country on a mission, but also running for their lives. On the way to L.A., they meet some odd characters, but all that Eugene can think about is Cindi.

Cregger and Moore not only star in Miss March, but they also co-wrote and co-directed it. The two hail from a TV show called The Whitest Kids U Know which aired on Fuse. I don't get Fuse (although I've always wished that I did based on the number of cool alt-rocks events which they have), so not only have I never seen the show, I'd never heard of it until I started reading about this film. And I have to be honest, I had a bad feeling about Miss March because projects from a comedy troupe are often very hit or miss. However, it seems that of the five members of the group, only Cregger and Moore were involved in this film. Also, I'd read some scathing reviews for the movie and noted that it has a 4% on RottenTomatoes.com. 4%? I expected it to be out-of-focus and just suddenly stop half-way through with a score like that.

Truth be told, the movie doesn't deserve a score that low, and trust me when I say, I've seen worse movies. Much worse. Now that shouldn't imply that Miss March is a good movie. First and foremost, this is a very stupid comedy which uses often crass and unoriginal jokes to vie for laughs. For example, the whole idea of Tucker being a perverted family photographer is stolen directly from Bachelor Party. Nearly every joke involving Tucker's rapper friend Horsedick.mpeg (Craig Robinson) is not only borderline racist, but it's all stuff that we've seen before. I had no idea that this was a quasi-road movie. Haven't we seen enough of those? And the finale is stretched out for two long, and the "meeting my hero" scene has been in far too many films.

But, unlike true stinkers, such as College and Are We Done Yet?, I actually laughed a few times during Miss March. Yes, they were all truly tasteless jokes and I felt awful afterwards, but I did laugh. The moment where they first reveal what happens to a post-coma Eugene really got to me. The explanation for all of the times that epilepsy was mentioned was funny. And the open window on the bus, despite the fact that I knew what was going to happen, made me laugh. Does this mean that I have the sense of humor of a 12-year old? Perhaps. But, I'd rather have some guilty laughs during a film than start cleaning the den in the middle of it just to give me something to do. Miss March is sophomoric and forgettable, but you could do much worse with a rental.

Miss March takes an obnoxious limo to the prom on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 35 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing only mild grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look fantastic, most notably any bold colors such as red or orange. The image is never too bright or dark. The level of detail and depth are both good. (What is it about some low-budget movies looking really good?) The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are nicely done, most notably during crowd scenes. The party scenes show off some nice surround effects. The most impressive audio comes during the rap music scenes, where the subwoofer was asking for a break afterwards.

The Miss March Blu-ray Disc contains only a smattering of extras. "Viral Videos" (14 minutes) is a series of 5 videos which show fake behind-the-scenes action of Zach and Trevor working on the movie. Other members of "The Whitest Kids U Know" appear here. "Down & Dirty with Horsedick.mpeg" (2 minutes) (which can be viewed censored or uncensored) is a fake Behind the Music look at the rapper.

Review Copyright 2009 by Mike Long