The Movie

Chances are you have never heard of Mr. Fix It, as it is one of those direct-to-video movies. The film is a fairly generic romantic comedy that turns out to be pretty good. The success of it is purely due to leading actor David Boreanaz, who does a superb job with his role. He carries a generic storyline with a likeable, comical over-the-top performance.

Boreanaz is Lance Valenteen, also known as Mr. Fix It. Lance is a charming, good looking guy who has no problem with women. His only problem is with true love. He doesn't believe he can find it. It's because of this inability that he can do the work that he does. He runs a private business unlike any other. Somewhat similar to Will Smith's job in the movie Hitch, Lance is in the love business. But instead of trying to fix people up like Smith's character in Hitch, Lance tries to repair ruined relationships. Under the guise of a computer repair shop, Lance runs Mr. Fix It, inc.

Lance, as Mr. Fix It, gets the girlfriends of guys who have been recently dumped to reconsider the dumpee. The basic plot is that Lance will get to know someone's ex-girlfriend, date her, and then get her to realize that the person who hired him wasn't so bad after all. He has a few rules that he lives by, which include not falling in love with a client's ex-girlfriend or being too intimate like having sex with her.

Mr. Fix It's latest job is repairing Bill Smith's (Pat Healy) recently broken relationship. Bill had a great relationship with girlfriend Sophia (Alana De La Garza), with the exception of his constant lying. Sophia is Bill's true love and he is willing to pay more than the usual fee to get Lance to help him out. Lance sees the job as a great opportunity to finance his dream, which is to fix up his beat up car and race it in a local competition. And so, Lance's latest job goes forward and he tries to woe Sophia, which turns out to be harder than initially expected.

As the story continues, Lance finds out there is more to love than he thought. Sophia turns out to be the perfect woman for him in all respects. His developing relationship with her poses a problem, because well, Sophia is a job. Lance is forced to consider what is more important, realizing his dream or finding true love. During Lance's journey of love, he will be helped out by a trio of senior citizens who are experienced in auto repair and the ways of love; led by Paul Sorvino, a superb actor whose talent is severely underused in this movie, and one of his goofy friends who knows about his special line of work.

Overall, the story behind Mr. Fix It is nothing to get excited about. It is fairly generic and predictable. There are a few fun scenes including a goofy go kart scene with poop slinging kids, and Lance breaking wood blocks with his head. They are over-the-top, but done in a fun way. It is small scenes like these that helps sets the generic storyline apart from other romantic comedies.

For the most part, the characters are average, with the exception of David Boreanaz. As mentioned in the beginning of the review, Boreanaz is the reason this movie has any character and ultimately why it is worth watching. He gives a solid performance in his role, providing physical comedy and delivering a likeable, somewhat over-the-top character.

The bottom line is that Mr. Fix It is a movie that you can't take too seriously. It has a fairly limited plotline and average supporting characters. The story itself is nothing to get excited about, but Boreanaz's performance makes the movie fun. Those looking for a low key, easygoing romantic comedy should enjoy what Mr. Fix It has to offer.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in an anamorphic 1.78:1 ratio widescreen color. The picture quality is quite good. It suffers from a slight grain, but detail remains to be sharp and clear. However, there are some occasional moments when the picture suffers compression artifacts. This is a rare occurrence, but it does happen.

Audio:
The primary audio track is given in English 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound. There is also an English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo sound track included. The 5.1 track is overkill. There is very little use of the surround sound capability with most activity in the forward channels. As for the quality, both the 5.1 and 2.0 tracks offer dialogue that is easy to hear and music that sounds rich.

There are also subtitles included in English and Spanish.

Extras:
For special features there are a couple items included. First is a behind the scenes featurette. It runs for under nine minutes and features candid footage of the directing and filming of the movie. The other extra is an audio commentary with director Darin James Ferriola and co-producer Jim Agnew. The commentary is the only extra (of the two) worth your time. The dialogue Ferriola gives is pretty interesting, such as talking about how he got the idea for the movie.

There are also trailers included for Mr. Fix It, Danika, Spirit Trap, and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.

Final Thoughts:
Mr. Fix It is a romantic comedy about a man who does not believe in true love. This individual runs a private business helping recently dumped guys get back together with their ex-girlfriends. The movie's tone is somewhat over-the-top and goofy, and turns out to be pretty fun due to the leading actor David Boreanaz. In the end, Mr. Fix It makes for a good watch and it comes recommended.