Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5488 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-07-23
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, Dutch, Hindi, Norwegian, Finnish, Italian, Portuguese, English, Danish, Swedish
• Dubbed in: Spanish, Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.co.uk
Jennifer Garner's lips grow more Angelina-esque every year. In the romantic comedy Catch and Release, Garner (Alias,13 Going On 30) plays Gray Wheeler, a young woman whose fiance dies unexpectedly before the wedding, leaving Gray unable to afford her home--so she moves in with her fiance's best friends, Sam (Kevin Smith, director of Clerks and Dogma) and Dennis (Sam Jaeger, Lucky Number Slevin). But the presence of another old friend named Fritz (Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood) leads to the unveiling of a secret: Gray's fiance had a child with another woman. Catch and Release lacks the clear story structure that most romantic comedies are built on, but trades it for a richer sense of the ambiguities of human relationships. Garner, though lovely and personable, is a bit bland--fortunately, she's surrounded by actors with all kinds of edges, including Smith (who shows an unexpected and uncloying earnest side), Fiona Shaw (from the Harry Potter movies) as the fiance's grieving mother, and Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear), who demonstrates once again her powers as a fearless and surprising actress. Catch and Release is an uneven movie with a remarkably elegant visual style that sometimes clashes with the workman-like dialogue, but it can't be written off as the same old Hollywood claptrap. Though a happy ending is inevitable, the path it takes has some surprising turns and flashes of unexpected emotional depth.-- Bret Fetzer

Synopsis
Screenwriter Susannah Grant makes her directorial debut in this tale of love, loss, and finding new love. Gray Wheeler's (Jennifer Garner) wedding day is not going as planned. Instead of walking down the aisle in her wedding gown, she is at the funeral of her fiance, Grady, following his accidental death on a trip meant to be his bachelor party. To make ends meet, Gray puts her things in storage and moves in with Grady's roommates, levelheaded and attentive Dennis (Sam Jaeger) and quirky yet lovable Sam (Kevin Smith). With childhood friend Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) in from LA and crashing on the couch, it’s a full house. Inhabiting Grady's old room, Gray soon learns that her fiance had been keeping some big secrets from her and may not have been the man she thought he was. Perhaps more importantly, she discovers some surprising things about herself, and her ability to heal and love again. Each of the characters in this film has to find a way to survive the devastating loss of a man who held them all together. Garner effectively conveys Gray's heartbreak and confusion without going over the top. As Fritz, Olyphant pulls off the role of the mystery man who is always charming but often misunderstood. Jaeger is earnest and heartfelt as Grady’s roommate and business partner. But Smith is the scene-stealer here, with deadpan delivery and great timing as a Celestial Seasonings employee spouting philosophical quotes from the herbal tea company's packaging. Juliette Lewis appears as a sexy, slightly flaky, Californian massage therapist who is also a skeleton in Grady's closet.

Customer Reviews

Yet Another Tragically Underrated Film
Let me just start off by saying that this is the first review I have ever written on Amazon. What led me to make this change in my behaviour is simply the fact that after watching Catch and Release on Sky this week for the first time, I was so incensed by the sheer lack of praise for this truly wonderful film that I could not hold myself back.

I had not even heard of this film until a few months ago and certainly don't remember it being on at the cinema. After reading the bad reviews and criticisms aplenty directed at Catch and Release I watched it not expecting to like it but boy was I wrong.

Firstly, I can only imagine that this film was seriously under marketed, probably wrongly as a romantic comedy. It is not a romantic comedy. It is a lot of things with a little dash of humour in which makes you smile to yourself at times but IT IS NOT A COMEDY!

Remember Tremors, a cult classic? No one had even heard of that when it came out originally - sadly another undermarketed/mis-marketed film - but now it's huge and has spawned 2 sequels and a TV series!

Sadly, I fear that people expected this film to be different than it is. That simple misconception could well have been its downfall.

Has the general public become so numbed by films with massive explosions, copious amounts of violence and incessant swearing that we can no longer enjoy touching, emotional films like this one? Or is it that we are so used to the same old `rom-coms' that Hugh Grant and the like spew out year after year that we are scared to appreciate something with a different feel to it?

To put it simply this film is beautiful. It's moving, sad, romantic, painful, sweet, good natured and humorous at times and in the end it teaches us that there is hope. We eventually learn that life does indeed go on after the death of a loved one.

The film begins with a tragic funeral which we never really forget throughout the film, even though there is so much else to consider. The director manages the impossible - to create a heart-warming, tender film even in the presence of such sadness - and she pulls it off completely. In the hands of someone else it could have been such a mess but it isn't - it's simply brilliant. I only wish there were more films like this that didn't feel the need to blow everything up or beat the living snot out of the characters to gain an audience.

All the actors, especially of course the fantastic Jennifer Garner and Timothy Olyphant, play their parts perfectly. The chemistry between the two main characters is palpable and really adds to the charm. These two actors have that rare knack of being able to portray a barrage of emotions perfectly just with their facial expressions and body language - a talent that many other actors lack. You know exactly what they are feeling and thinking without them saying a word and it hits you hard. The scene in the fishing hut, in the peace garden, is a prime example of this.

This film moved me greatly. It may sound harsh but seriously, you could only not enjoy this film if your heart is a shrivelled up prune and you have never known the feelings of loss, love, hope and the oh so heart breaking one of unrequited love.

It just makes me so sad that this film wasn't the hit it should have been and only hope that the writers, producers and director of Catch and Release know that there are some of us out there that loved it and hope for more like it.

This film is a gem in a sea of plankton.

surprisingly good
i really liked this, yes its sickly sweet,overlong and drags in the middle but as pure comfort cinema its perfectly fine, you know the ending within the first five minets but who cares

disappointing
I had high hopes for this movie being both a Kevin Smith and Jennifer Garner fan. Unfortunately I was sadly disappointed. The characters are irritating, the dialogue wooden and the story, though an interesting premise, lacks real depth.

That said Jennifer Garner is great and there are moments where you can see the film has potential, sadly it never develops.

Kevin Smith plays Kevin Smith. Only this time it is neither endearing or funny.

I wanted to love this movie but ended up entirely unmoved.