When 2012 ends, Think Like a Man won’t end up among the year’s highest-grossing films. Heck, with a take of $91 million, it probably won’t even make the US top 25. However, given its miniscule $12 million budget, it will certainly be among the year’s most profitable movies, and it also seems like one that should be considered among 2012’s most surprising successes, as few expected it to make a dent at the box office.

Based on Steve Harvey’s self-help book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, the film concentrates on four different types of men: “The Player”, represented by Zeke (Romany Malco), “The Mama’s Boy” as illustrated by Michael (Terrence J), “The Dreamer”, demonstrated by Dominic (Michael Ealy), and “The Non-Committer” as shown by Jeremy (Jerry Ferrera). We also meet “Happily Married Man” Bennett (Gary Owen) and “Even Happier Divorced Man” Cedric (Kevin Hart) – who narrates the film as well – but the first four become the film’s focus.

Of course, we encounter these guys’ female counterparts as well. Single mom Candace (Regina Hall) starts to date Michael, while Kristen (Gabrielle Union) waits for immature Jeremy to finally grow up and pop the question – after nine years. Mya (Meagen Good) gets tired of being used by players and yet winds up going with Zeke, though she brings a twist: rather than hop into the sack right away, she enacts Harvey’s “90 Day Rule”. Finally, successful career woman Lauren (Taraji P. Henson) gets pursued by Dominic, even though they exist in totally different financial worlds. She doesn’t know this at first, though, as she thinks she and the recently fired prep cook are both on similar income levels.

What ties together all these relationships? The reading matter chosen by the women. Each one digs into Harvey’s book and uses its tips to change their usual (unsuccessful) dating histories and land their men. We follow all these endeavors, with their highs and lows.

I think Think shoots for two target audiences: African-Americans and/or women. Last time I looked, I fell into neither category, so I feared that the film would offer little to interest me.

To my surprise, Think manages to overcome any “genre limitations” it might suffer to provide a reasonably entertaining romantic comedy. On the negative side, you’re unlikely to find anything fresh on display. The stories and characters follow awfully predictable paths and all end up pretty much exactly where we expect they’ll finish. If there’s something unexpected on display, I can’t find it.

At more than two hours, Think also runs a bit long for a rom-com. I understand it needs to pack in a lot of character/story elements; with four prominent plot threads and eight main characters – nine if we count Cedric – there’s a ton of ground to cover, so I can’t feel too upset with the movie’s length. Nonetheless, it still “feels long” and starts to drag as it winds toward its inevitable conclusion/

That said, the journey proves to be pretty entertaining along the way. A solid cast helps. We find a surfeit of talent here, and while I’m not sure any of them brings their “A-game”, they all elevate the moderately trite material. Hart gives the movie much needed levity, and I also really like Jenifer Lewis as Michael’s domineering mother. The actors deliver a lot of merit to the project.

We also get likable characters. Again, none of them leap off the screen as particularly deep or memorable, but they’re distinctive enough to keep our attention, and they merit our investment. With so many roles, some of the characters could’ve gotten lost in the shuffle, but the film keeps them individualized and distinctive.

So chalk up Think Like a Man as a fairly enjoyable romantic comedy. Despite its inability to bring anything new to the genre, it manages to deliver a reasonable amount of humor and warmth.

Think Like a Man appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. I found no problems with this excellent presentation.

To fit with all the African-American complexions, the flick went with a warm palette. It favored a fairly amber tint that worked within the theme and context. Brighter hues looked good, and overall color balance appeared positive. Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed nice clarity.

Sharpness excelled. All shots – wide, close and in-between – provided solid clarity and definition. If any softness emerged, I didn’t see it. Jaggies and shimmering were absent, and edge haloes weren’t a factor. No signs of source flaws emerged, and I didn’t sense any digital noise reduction. Across the board, this was a pleasing transfer.

Romantic comedies don’t usually boast dynamic audio, so don’t expect much from the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Think. The soundfield remained pretty limited through most of the film. Music showed nice stereo presence, and a few scenes – usually those in clubs - opened up the environment in a reasonably satisfying manner. Nothing memorable occurred, though; the flick could’ve been monaural and I’m not sure I would’ve noticed a substantial difference.

Audio quality was solid, however. Speech always came across as natural and distinctive, with no signs of edginess or reediness. Music sounded lush and warm, while effects – as minor as they were – appeared accurate enough. At no point did this threaten to become a dynamic soundscape, it seemed acceptable for a film of this sort.

When we shift to extras, we launch with four featurettes. The Guy Code runs six minutes, 41 seconds and provides notes from producer Will Packer, author Steve Harvey, director Tim Story, and actors Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Gabrielle Union, Jerry Ferrara, Romany Malco, and Michael Ealy. We learn about the Harvey’s book and its move to the big screen, adaptation issues, and story/character notes. Some decent details emerge, but the show’s too short and superficial to add up to much.

With the 11-minute, 28-second Men vs. Women, we hear from Story, Hart, Ealy, Henson, Union, Packer, Ferrara, Malco, and actors Terrence J, Regina Hall and Meagan Good. The program covers cast, characters and performances. As with the prior piece, this one has a few interesting comments but usually feels general and forgettable.

He Said, She Said goes for five minutes, 20 seconds and includes statements from Harvey, Hall, Terrence J, Ferrara, Union, Good, Henson, and actor Gary Owen. The participants debate whether men or women give the best relationship advice. This becomes another superficial, forgettable piece.

Finally, Comedy Behind the Scenes lasts six minutes, 49 seconds and features Packer, Henson, Owen, Hart, Malco, and Hall. This one takes us to the set and provides jokey comments from the participants about each other. It’s more entertaining than the prior featurettes but not informative.

Six Deleted Scenes fill a total of six minutes, 32 seconds. We see more of the bartender character – barely shown in the final flick, despite the casting of the talented JB Smoove – as well as additional character moments among the various personalities. None of these deliver anything insightful or memorable; the finished movie is already fairly long, so the added material would’ve felt redundant. Actually, one scene shows a little development missing from the flick, but even it still didn’t merit inclusion.

We wrap with a five-minute, 38-second Gag Reel. In it, we see the standard goofing around and laughing, but we also find some ad-libbing from Hart and others. Those moments make the reel better than most of its ilk.

The Blu-ray launches with ads for The Amazing Spider-Man, Sparkle, and The Words. These also show up under Previews with clips for Men in Black 3 and Looper. No trailer for Think pops up here.

At times Think Like a Man feels more like a long promo for the book on which it was based than a film in its own right. Nonetheless, a consistently good cast elevates the material and we end up with a surprisingly light, lively romantic comedy. The Blu-ray delivers excellent picture quality and good audio but lacks substantial supplements. This feels like enjoyable date night material.