The 4:30 Movie - 4K Blu-ray Review

Movie
I may be biased being that I grew up IN the 1980s, but I still feel like the 80s and 90s were the last time when kids were free of things like Ipads, cell phones in every hand, and the controversial influence of social media permeating our every life. As I said, maybe I AM biased, but the 1980s was probably the most nostalgic part of my life, and seems to be for a great many people. Music of today tries to imitate the style of the 1980s, fashion trends from the 80s are re-emerging, and those of us who hovered on the edge of Millennials and GenX are eating it up with reckless abandon. So color me rather curious when I see that Kevin Smith is going back to his roots and making a slice of life comedy in a semi biographical way covering his formative years as a film addicted teen in 1986.

The film follows young movie fanatic Brian David (Austin Zajur) and a single afternoon in the summer of 1986 where he and his best friends Belly (Reed Northrup) and Burny (Nicholas Cirillo) hang out at the local cineplex waiting for his (hopefully) girlfriend Melody (Siena Agudong), to join them for an R-rated film that they’re DEFINITELY going to sneak in to. Like most of Kevin Smith’s earlier films, The 4:30 Movie is just that simple. The plot line of the film is quite literally 3 friends hanging out and messing around, sharing their love of cinema (in varying degrees) and hopefully not get caught by the pompous manager (Ken Jeong) as they movie hop throughout the afternoon.

I got the VERY distinct impression going into the film that this was going to be a very personal film for Kevin Smith, and as such, what you get out of this is really going to be how much the audience resonates with the earlier films of Smith’s career. Films like Clerks or Mallrats fit that sort of indie “personal” vibe that Smith is so skilled at making, so those fans of niche cinema and slice of life dramedy’s are likely to be the target audience of this one.

Personally, I really liked it for the most part. Kevin Smith’s more indie works are not for everyone, and this coming from a guy who thinks that Clerks is one of the most over rated movies out there. Still, the feeling that Kevin Smith was taking heavy inspiration from Stand by Me, as well as his HUGE love of 1980s exploitation films had me jiving with it. The boys sitting and watching those fake trailer brought back SOOOOO many memories of my friends and I in the early 90s giggling, throwing popcorn, and sneaking food into the theater like punk kids. There’s a sense of raw authenticity through the short film, and while it doesn’t always really rise above the sum of its parts, The 4:30 Movie hits all of those nostalgic beats for us 80s and 90s kids still hanging on to the memories of when life was good (and we could get into a Motley Crue concert without paying $250 for the nosebleed seats).

However, the film does have a few weak spots, mainly with some pacing near the final act, and the copious cameos of people Smith has worked with over the last 30+ years. Some of them are downright hilarious (Jason Mewes as a “John” in the nun flick was hilarious), but others like Rachel Dratch playing David’s mom made you wanted to literally peel your face off. I know it was intentional, but Rachel Dratch actually made a character more annoying than her 30 Rock character. And that takes WORK. In the same vein, I felt that the movie went on a little TOO long despite the 85 minute runtime (including 10 minutes of credits), and really was more geared towards a short film rather than a feature film.




Rating:

Rated R for sexual content




4K Video: Video:

Presented in 1:85:1 HEVC, the 4K UHD disc looks very good, but limited by the stylistic choices made by Kevin Smith. From what I could tell, Smith used some form of the Arri Alexa digital cameras, then heavily edited them to look yellowed, slightly aged, and full of faux grain to imitate (or at least get close) to the old 16mm films of his youth. Just SLIGHTLY better looking. Fine details are generally really good, but the slightly dreamlike look of many outdoor shots (which are SOAKED in sepia over tones) keep things from being razor sharp and crisp. Black levels are good, though I saw some noise spikes in the dark of the theater and a dimly lit park bench shot. One thing that I noticed when comparing to the Blu-ray included in the set, the digital faux grain is REALLY noticeable in ways that the 1080p resolution couldn’t pick up. It sadly doesn’t look natural either, which is sort of normal for a digital movie trying to replicate film stock, but being that he amped up the grain quite heavily, it looks even MORE unnatural than usual. Certain scenes look naturally distressed (like the faux trailers the boys watch in the movie), but overall the flick looks GOOD, even though its stylization will always keep it from looking great.





Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track choice for this particular film had me scratching my head. Not because the film isn’t suited for Atmos, but the fact that Kevin Smith intentionally creates very front heavy tracks for these types of films. It just seems like ridiculous overkill, and the for the most part I was correct. The track is quite front heavy, dealing mostly with the dialog and musical bits for the movies. Rear utilization is very minimalistic, with moderate use with some of the movie in a movie theater elements, but overall this just doesn’t feel like it’s stretching the Atmos limitations that much. Still, this is a solid sounding film with a front heavy mix that utilizes surrounds JUST enough. All in all a good sounding track.






Extras:

• Audio commentary with Kevin Smith
• Going Home Again: Making the 4:30 Movie
• Theatrical trailer









As you can tell, I both liked and felt frustrated by Kevin Smith’s latest venture. Is it a good enough movie? Yeah, I had a good time. But at the same time it feels a bit self indulgent at times and the last act really drove that home a bit TOO much. That being said, it’s a fun enough movie and what you get out of this will depend how much you love Kevin Smith’s really early and personal works from the 90s. The 4K UHD disc we got is actually an Amazon exclusive (the only way to get the 4K to my knowledge) and the packaging is probably the best part of it. A hefty looking steelbook designed to look like a VHS tape, complete with a GORGEOUS heavy duty semi translucent slip cover that really ooozes love and hearkening back to a time when studios put a TON of effort into the packaging of their films. Very solid package, solid audio video, and a decent flick. A rental at the very least.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Siena Agudong, Austin Zajur, Kate Micucci, Reed Northrup, Nicholas Cirillo, Jason Mewes, Justin Long,
Directed by: Kevin Smith
Written by: Kevin Smith
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core),
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 85 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: November 5th, 2024

Travis Ballstadt said:

I'm not sure if there have been more recently, or if I'm just noticing more as of late, but I'm a big fan of the 'love letter to movies' genre. 5-25-77, Empire of Light, The Fablemans, even Ready Player One to a degree.

This was not my favorite, and it was not my least favorite. I felt like there were too many obvious lines that seemed forced, wedged in. Loved a couple of the performances, and felt like other actors were only available because they didn't get the part in the local community theater production last summer.

I'm glad I watched it, I enjoyed it for the most part, it reminded me a lot of me, but I probably won't watch again.

Click to expand...

yeah, it's a thing.

and I agree with you. this was firmly in the middle. I enjoyed it, but it was not my favorite.