Despite a title that implies the film’s about chicks – nude or marshmallow - 2010’s Peep World covers issues that affect a family. We meet Henry Meyerwicz (Ron Rifkin) and his children: Joel (Rainn Wilson), Cheri (Sarah Silverman), Jack (Michael C. Hall) and Nathan (Ben Schwartz). None of them like each other much, but every year they gather for dinner to celebrate Henry’s birthday; none of them enjoy this event either.

Jack works as a not-that-successful architect who never seems to live up to expectations; he fears that his pregnant wife Laura (Judy Greer) hates him as well, as she spouts nasty remarks in her sleep. At least he fares better than Joel, the family screw-up who constantly needs to be bailed out, usually by punching bag Jack. Cheri wants badly to be an actor – or dancer, or whatever – but she never gets that career off the ground; her major stock in trade appears to be bitterness at Nathan.

Cheri’s always been angry that youngest child Nathan came along and took the love she thought she deserved, but matters get worse when Nathan writes a book called Peep World. This provides a thinly-veiled – and not complimentary - take on the family that sells extremely well and even gets adapted into a movie. All of this lends more tension than normal to Henry’s birthday dinner.

If Peep World took place in Manhattan instead of in LA, you’d swear it was a Woody Allen flick. It definitely delivers an Allen-esque experience as it digs into the lives of its rich, whiny characters.

Unfortunately, Peep World feels like inferior Woody. Much of the problem comes from the simplistic, one-dimensional characters, and another stems from the movie’s length. With four main roles and a bevy of supporting parts, Peep bites off a whole lot for a flick that doesn’t even reach the 80-minute mark.

Would it have been much better if it’d run longer? I’m not sure. On one hand, it loses points because it’s so abbreviated; the movie just doesn’t have enough time to develop its characters and situations in a remotely satisfying way, so all these elements end up as sketchy at best.

On the other hand, there’s not much in Peep to give me confidence that the filmmakers could’ve made it better with a longer running time. Essentially it comes across as a random collection of character-related scenes without much to connect them. We get little slices of lives but nothing more.

And some of those slices are pretty lousy. For reasons that escape me, we spend a lot of time with issues related to Nathan’s premature ejaculation problem. This allows for plenty of lame gags and far too much screen time given to a theme that doesn’t go anywhere. The sexual dysfunction doesn’t act as a metaphor or much else; it really just feels like an excuse for cheap humor.

Peep gets more dramatic as it goes, but it still doesn’t work. The film simply doesn’t satisfy as a drama or a comedy; it dabbles in both areas but never embraces either. All of these threads culminate in a climactic dinner that comes across as wholly unrealistic; it feels very scripted, with too much forced confrontation and too many trite lines.

All of this leaves Peep World as a disappointment. It boasts a terrific cast along with a theme that could’ve been interesting. Unfortunately, it takes its topics and dumbs them down to such a substantial degree that all we get is a thin, meandering dud.

Peep World appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. This wasn’t a great image, but it was satisfactory.

Sharpness usually seemed positive. A little softness occasionally affected wider shots, but those instances were mild. Overall definition was good, with nice delineation most of the time. Jagged edges and moiré effects failed to create concerns, and I also didn’t see any edge haloes. Print flaws never became a factor.

Colors looked fine. Peep World went with a subdued palette that favored a bit of a golden tint, and the hues seemed good within those choices. Most of the flick demonstrated nice tones. Blacks were reasonably deep, while shadows were a bit erratic; they usually demonstrated adequate clarity, but they could be a little thick at times. Though the image didn’t dazzle, it remained positive.

Given the movie’s status as a character-based effort, I didn’t expect much from its DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. It delivered the low-key soundscape I anticipated, as the flick usually opted for mild ambiance. Some street sequences offered a bit more life, but that was a relative thing; you’d hear a car drive from one spot to another but not a whole lot more than that. Music showed good stereo presence, though, and the soundfield made sense for the chatty tale.

I felt pleased with the quality of the sound. Speech always appeared natural and distinctive, without roughness or other problems. Music was warm and rich, and effects seemed accurate enough, though they didn’t have a lot to do. This was a pretty average track.

Only a few extras show up here. Four Deleted Scenes run a total of four minutes, 45 seconds. One shows Cheri on the set of the Peep World movie, while the second gives us more of Joel and his girlfriend before the dinner. The final two scenes offer more of the aftermath that follows the dinner. The first one’s mildly interesting, but the others lack much purpose; they would’ve just filled space in the final film.

A few ads open the disc. We get clips for Cracks, The Other Woman, Super and Park Benches. We also find the film’s theatrical trailer.

With a great cast and an interesting theme, Peep World could’ve been an absorbing character-based comedy/drama. Unfortunately, it’s an unsatisfying mix of genres with thin personalities and little cleverness. The Blu-ray provides generally good picture, acceptable audio and minor supplements. Chalk this one up as a letdown that doesn’t satisfy.