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LIONSGATE

SERIES INFO

Director:
Thor Freudenthal
Cast:
Charlie Plummer, Taylor Russell, Andy Garcia
Writing Credits:
Nick Naveda

Synopsis:
Diagnosed with a mental illness halfway through his senior year of high school, Adam struggles to keep it a secret while falling in love with a brilliant classmate who inspires him to not be defined by his condition.

MPAA:
Rated PG-13.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 111 min.
Price: $24.99
Release Date: 11/17/2020

Bonus:
• Photo Gallery
• Trailer & Previews


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
-LG OLED65C6P 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV
-Marantz SR7010 9.2 Channel Full 4K Ultra HD AV Surround Receiver
-Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player
-Chane A2.4 Speakers
-SVS SB12-NSD 12" 400-watt Sealed Box Subwoofer


RELATED REVIEWS


Words on Bathroom Walls [Blu-Ray] (2020)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (November 23, 2018)

With 2020’s Words on Bathroom Walls, we get a “Young Adult” movie that views teendom through the prism of mental illness. High school senior Adam Petrazelli (Charlie Plummer) wants to pursue a career as a chef when he graduates.

However, one day during chemistry class, Adam experiences a severe hallucination. This leads to an accident that injures another student, and the school expels him.

Desperate for answers, Adam’s parents seek treatment for him. This leads to a schizophrenia diagnosis.

To finish his high school career, Adam goes to a small Catholic academy. There he hopes to keep his schizophrenia secret until he can close out the term, but a burgeoning relationship with outspoken classmate Maya Arnaz (Taylor Russell) challenges his processess.

As a 53-year-old man, I can remember high school – sort of. I graduated 35 years ago, and that leaves me far from in-touch with today’s teens.

Which means I find myself in an awkward position when I review movies explicitly aimed at teens, as this leaves me decades outside the target market. Still, I believe a good film is a good film, and that shouldn’t depend on the age of the viewer.

Unfortunately, Words doesn’t offer a particularly good film. While not a total loss, the flick tends to plod and never become an engaging view of its themes or characters.

Words walks a fine line, as it doesn’t want to treat Adam as a freak, but it can’t figure out how to portray him in a better light. While the movie pontificates and lectures, it doesn’t turn Adam into a real character, as he feels more like a mix of theatrical tropes than a realistic teen.

As for Maya, she exists as nothing more than a standard Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She appears here to motivate Adam, and any additional movement feels gratuitous.

Sure, Words gives Maya her own arc, but this feels superfluous. Any focus on her comes across due to a sense of cinematic obligation, and the filmmakers barely bother to cobble together much for Maya to do other than bring Adam out of his shell.

It doesn’t help that Words makes Adam an awfully “showy” schizophrenic. I get that it needs to turn him into a fairly severe case for dramatic purposes, but it does those with schizophrenia a disservice, as it leads viewers to believe all sufferers show Adam’s extremes.

Perhaps the movie’s main flaw comes from its basic dullness, as it lacks the ability to create interesting characters and situations. The filmmakers rely on the theatrics of Adam’s hallucinations to do the heavy lifting.

This leaves the movie without much real dramatic core. Rather than develop involving roles or plot elements, Words just hopes that Adam’s impaired visions will pack enough of a punch to maintain our interest.

They don’t, and this leaves Words as a fairly lackluster character piece. Basically a standard “coming of age” tale with a gimmick, the movie tends to drag and never find a groove.


The Disc Grades: Picture B+/ Audio B/ Bonus D-

Words on Bathroom Walls appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a strong transfer.

Sharpness looked very good. Only mild softness materialized, which meant a tight, well-defined image most of the time.

I witnessed no shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes remained absent. As expected, the film lacked any print flaws.

In terms of palette, Words went with a fairly amber and teal sensibility. Within the stylistic decisions, the hues seemed fine.

Blacks were deep and tight, and shadows looked smooth and clear. This turned into an appealing image.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it opted for a fairly standard character drama vibe much of the time, though some elements opened up the action when necessary. In particular, Adam’s hallucinations kicked the mix into higher gear and used the five channels in an engaging manner.

These pushed the soundfield up a notch, but they didn’t appear often enough to turn this into a great track. Most of it focused on score and ambience, where the material opened up the story in a satisfactory way.

Audio quality appeared good. Speech seemed distinctive and concise, without roughness or brittleness.

Music was warm and full, as the movie used the songs and score in a bold manner. Effects showed good delineation and accuracy. This ended up as a solid mix for a drama.

An Image Gallery presents a whopping eight stills. Seven present shots from the movie and the final one brings a poster. Yawn.

The disc opens with ads for Forever My Girl and The Peanut Butter Falcon. We also get the trailer for Words.

Though it wants to become a serious look at the impact of mental illness, Words on Bathroom Walls instead delivers nothing more than a mediocre teen melodrama. Slow and superficial, the movie pushes emotional buttons without substance. The Blu-ray brings very good picture and audio but it lacks quality bonus materials. Though not an awful entry in the “Young Adult” genre, Words ends up as a bland effort.

Viewer Film Ratings: 2 Stars Number of Votes: 1
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