Ben (Justin H. Min), a struggling filmmaker, lives in Berkeley, California, with his girlfriend Miko (Ally Maki), who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he’s not managing an art-house movie theater as his day job, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice (Sherry Cola), a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben is left to his own devices and begins to explore what he thinks he might want.

For in-depth thoughts on Shortcomings, please see my review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

Shortcomings arrives on Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation in the original 1.85:1 which is very lovely. The film has a vibrant, natural color palette on display with pleasant hues found in the clothing and production design elements. The skin tones look very crisp and detailed across the ensemble. Highlights are handled admirably with no blooming at play. The deep blacks do not appear to suffer from much in the way of compression artifacts. This is a deliberately composed film with many shots where you can see an incredible amount of detail and texture in the background elements. There are no obvious signs of any noise or other digital nuisances. This presentation offers a rock-solid presentation for audiences.

Audio Quality

The film comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that brings to life every sonic need of the film effortlessly. The soundtrack permeates the room in a really exciting way that situates you right into the mood of the story. Activity in the low end is rarely a major factor outside of the music, but what is there adds texture to the proceedings. Dialogue comes through clearly without being overwhelmed by any of the other sounds. Environmental effects inject the film with great energy which this track handles with precision. The use of the rear channels to create a three-dimensional experience works well. The directionality is pinpoint so sounds always present as natural when coming from their respective points. Sony has delivered a terrific track for the film. There are optional English, English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles provided.

Special Features

Previews

Final Thoughts

Shortcomings is a very impressive feature directorial effort from Randall Park. Rather than going for the easy crowdpleaser, Park allows his characters to be flawed and even unlikable at points. He embraces the messiness of humanity and the characters that populate the world he has created. There is often bitterness in the sweetness. The film can be abrasive, but it is also terrifically funny. This tricky tonal balance is executed admirably thanks to the honesty brought to these characters. There is not a false note in the ensemble, and the experience only gets better with repeat viewings. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with a great A/V presentation and no special features. If you love a character study with a bit of complexity to it, this is worth keeping on your radar. Recommended

Shortcomings can be purchased 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: Sony 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.