Everything Must Go appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. Expect an attractive presentation.
Sharpness looked great. Even the widest shows boasted fine clarity, as the image always remained well-defined and distinctive. I noticed no issues with jaggies or moiré effects, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws also were absent, as the movie looked clean and fresh.
In terms of palette, the film opted for an arid, semi-amber tone. This restricted overall broadness of the colors, but they looked fine within the limited range of hues. Blacks were dark and tight, and shadows looked clear and full. This was a consistently terrific transfer.
While I wasn’t impressed by the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, I thought it suited the story. The mix mostly focused on the general sounds of suburbia. This meant the side and rear speakers gave us elements like sprinklers, bicycles, cars and other elements. These used the spectrum in an adequate way but we didn’t get anything particularly memorable.
Which was fine, and audio quality seemed nice. Speech was always natural and crisp, without edginess or other problems. Music was pretty full, though the gentle nature of the score meant it lacked much dimensionality. Effects were also low-key but perfectly acceptable in terms of reproduction. Though nothing here stood out as impressive, the track worked well enough for the film to earn a “B-“.
We get a decent mix of extras here. We open with an audio commentary from writer/director Dan Rush and actor Michael Pena. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story and characters, cast and performances, camerawork and staging, music, sets and locations, editing, and a few other production areas.
Though it drags at times, the track moves at a generally good rate. Rush dominates, but not as much as you'd expect given the fact that Pena doesn't have a ton of time on-screen. Instead, the pair interact in a lively and fun manner as they also contribute useful info about the movie. All of this adds up to a pretty positive discussion, though I must disagree with their belief that Rebecca Hall pulls off a good American accent; she sounds British throughout the whole movie!
Two featurettes follow. In Character with Will Ferrell goes for eight minutes, 34 seconds and offers notes from Rush, Pena, producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey, and actors Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall, and Christopher CJ Wallace. We learn why Ferrell took the role and what he brought to it as well as story and characters. A few good notes emerge but mostly the piece exists to sell the movie and give us a general take on the flick, so don’t expect much.
Behind the Scenes lasts 10 minutes, 31 seconds and provides info from Rush, Bowen, Ferrell, Hall, Wallace, Godfrey, Pena, Wallace, production designer Kara Lindstrom, costume designer Mark Bridges and executive producer Scott Lumpkin. The show covers story and characters, cast and performances, Rush’s work on the shoot, set and costume design, and general thoughts. Like “In Character”, this offers a promotional piece, but it includes a handful of interesting facts.
Deleted Scenes fill a total of 12 minutes, 54 seconds. We find “Nick Gets Fired (Extended)” (3:39), “Specialist Sears” (2:48), “Nick Calls a Hooker”(4:11), “Kenny Makes His Tough Face” (0:42) and “Nick’s New Apartment” (1:30). I’m glad the movie cut the added bits from “Fired”, as they telegraph some developments that come later in the film.
As for the others, “Sears” features a character otherwise not seen in the final flick; it’s moderately intriguing but wouldn’t have had a great spot in the end cut. “Hooker” seems odd and pathetic; we have enough odd and pathetic material in the movie and don’t need more. It also adds too much obvious exposition. “Face” is simply a minor character gag, and “Apartment” wraps up Nick’s story in too tidy a manner.
A few ads open the disc. We get clips for Margin Call, The Future, Swingers, I Love You Phillip Morris, Hesher, and The Conspirator. These show up under Also from Lionsgate as well, but no trailer for Go pops up here.
Subdued nearly to a fault, Everything Must Go doesn’t deliver a consistently stimulating effort. However, it has more than a few interesting moments and deserves credit as a movie that grows as it goes. The Blu-ray comes with excellent visuals as well as reasonably good audio and supplements. This one turns into a moderately interesting character piece.