‘Brian And Charles’ Blu-Ray Review – Cozy Robot Companion Comedy Is Full Of Heart

BRIAN AND CHARLES follows Brian, a lonely inventor in rural Wales, who spends his days building quirky, unconventional contraptions that seldom work. Undeterred by his lack of success, Brian attempts his biggest project yet. Three days, a washing machine, and various spare parts later, he’s invented Charles, an artificially intelligent robot who learns English from a dictionary and has an obsession with cabbages. What follows is a humorous and entirely heartwarming story about loneliness, friendship, family, finding love, and letting go.

For in-depth thoughts on Brian and Charles, please see my colleague Michael Cook’s review from its Sundance debut here. 

Video Quality

Brian and Charles debuts on Blu-Ray with a 1080p presentation in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio that brings this charming and distinctly rural movie to life. The transfer provides a sumptuous amount of detail and clarity, especially in the different items that make up Charles and other elements of the production design. Distinct outlines hold up well in the shadowy areas of the cottage and retain their depth with banding rarely showing up in any capacity. Black levels maintain a welcome amount of depth which does not succumb to crush. The highlights of the movie are strong with no blooming or clipping. The movie itself has a slightly cool and dreary palette that is captured with nuance on this disc. No damage or digital noise popped up that would detract from this transfer. Universal has treated this one very well.

Audio Quality

The film comes to Blu-Ray with a delicately realized DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track which captures all of the nuances of the soundscape. The dialogue comes through with perfect fidelity and is balanced well with the sound effects and score where nothing gets lost. Surround channels get some gentle activity within nature with various animals, weather effects and other effective moments. The soundscape fleshes out these environmental sounds to make the location feel more three dimensional. The occasional implementation of low end adds some texture that enhances the atmosphere. You are unlikely to find fault with the audio presentation. There are English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles provided. 

Special Features

• Gag Reel: A three-minute collection of amusing mishaps and laughing fits from the production are provided here. 

Final Thoughts

Brian and Charles is a truly charming independent comedy which keeps things very grounded even when the premise sounds a bit silly. The humor is often very dry and straight-faced, which can make the laughs radiate out even more when they hit. There are certain stretches when the laughs become a little less frequent, but the narrative is so strong you never feel anything less than engaged. The performances are really memorable, and the film leaves you feeling better than when you started it. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a stunning A/V presentation and a decent enough special feature. If you want to treat your heart to something nourishing, look no further. Recommended 

Brian and Charles can be purchased on Blu-Ray directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.   

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.