DVD Corner

Comet DVD Review

“Comet” crashes and burns.

While “Comet” sounds like a SyFy channel movie, it is merely a gimmicky non-linear romantic drama that takes place in parallel universes (or does it?) over the course of six years. The film jumps around in time and explores the complicated relationship between Dell and Kimberly.

With “Comet,” writer/director Sam Esmail takes a potentially intriguing concept and fumbles it. The problem isn’t with the oddball structure (which neither hurts nor helps the story), but rather the main characters. When your script lives and dies on the fact that you are supposed to care about the main characters, one would think the characters should at least be likable. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case here as Dell is insufferable and Kimberly is underdeveloped. Now, actors Justin Long and Emmy Rossum are certainly not to blame here. As we know from their past work, both are capable performers. The problem is with Esmail whose script is full of clunky Hal Hartley wannabe dialogue and FAR too many scenes of characters rambling on and on and on.

It’s a shame “Comet” never pans out because there’s a good movie somewhere in here. Had the on screen relationship been more engrossing, the movie would have benefited greatly. As is, the film simply made me want to watch a better relationship drama such as “Before Sunrise” or “Like Crazy.”

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.85:1. How does it look? The visual style is the only redeeming aspect of the entire film.

Audio Track: Dolby Digital 5.1. How does it sound? While the music and dialogue sound fine, there’s not a ton going on here. It’s a fairly tame track.

The only extras are IFC Film trailers and a trailer for “Comet.”

July 4, 2015 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | Comet DVD Review, Emmy Rossum, Justin Long