Synopsis:

What's your idea of the perfect woman? Max and Henry are Biology/Genetics lab assistants at a non-descript (read-UCLA) university in Southern California. After many years of hard work they have finally broken the genetic code that will allow mankind to clone anything or anyone it wants. The chair of the department Dr. Jonas (Eugene Levy) is essentially clueless about the entire process but dangles Assistant Proffesor status over the boy's heads should their cloning process work. When they successfully clone a hamster the president of the University sees green and pushes Jonas for a public display of the "Hyper-Replicator" for the benefit of the schools many benefactors. Word of this leaks out and a reporter for the magazine, Modern Science, shows up for an impromptu interview on the entire process.

This is no ordinary frumpy "Columbo-esque"reporter mind you. It's Kate Carson, easily the most beautiful and brainy woman either Max or Henry has ever seen. During the interview with Max, a mishap with the newly cloned hamster lands Kate's DNA on a slide which of course ends up being placed in the "Hyper-Replicator". Thinking it hamster DNA, Max goes ahead with the cloning process and inadvertently replicates Kate. Now back to my first question, Kate is Max's ideal woman and now there are two of them running about the university. Max and Henry decide the best way to make the perfect woman is to make her love all the things guys like (I..E. sex, beer and football) and despise all the things woman love.(I.E. cuddling, romance, love letters and anything not directly related to getting sex, beer and/or football)

The end result is a romantic comedy bolstered by the genius of Eugene Levy and a very strong supporting cast. This easily fits into the "date" movie category. Along with "When Harry Met Sally" and "One Fine Day". That being said, I really have to revisit Eugene Levy's performance as it really solidified the film for me. His supporting cast was as I said great but his portrayal of the "know-nothing" professor was extremely effective and exactly what we've come to expect from a Eugene Levy performance. It's not as over the top as his role in American Pie but it is hugely funny all the same.

Ali Landry first came to my attention and I'm sure everyone else's attention with her "Doritos" commercial. Undeniably gorgeous who knew she had acting chops as well! Her performance as both Kate and the Repli-Kate was obviously pivotal to the success and believability of the film. I must say she truly took the film where it needed to go and did a fine job to boot. I'm of the belief that romantic comedies often get the short end of the stick in that the general perception is that if it's merely funny, or overly sweet and sappy it's done it's job. WRONG. There needs to be liberal doses of both humor and romance to make the film work. Too much of one and not enough of the other will tip the film in the wrong direction and sink the picture. Repli-Kate, in my opinion has just the right balance of the two, and delivers what it promises!

Audio:

The audio is presented in a very flattering DD5.1 platform which nicely fills the listening space. The dialogue is easily understood throughout and the surrounds and sub are put to good atmospheric use.

Video:

The video is a very clean widescreen presentation. There were some soft points here and there throughout the print but on the whole Repli-Kate provides a very acceptable image.

Extras:

A director's commentary track is included. Listening to this track is almost as fun as watching the movie itself. The director, writer and producer essentially have what amounts to a "get together" and we are the invited guests for a very informal discussion on the making of the movie. It's full of humor and would fall under the heading of "tech talk-lite". Additionally, there are 10 deleted scenes. All of them were very funny and should have made it into the finished film. Quality-wise, they are in varying states of completion with the imagery ranging from fair to poor.

There are also two alternate openings and an alternate ending included. The first alternate opening is a steady-cam shot through the campus and into the lab. The credits are not complete and signs that read "Place Graphic Here" replace some of the final graphics. The second alternate opening is the bar opening (as its set in a bar) where we are introduced to the main characters, specifically, the whole comedic routine of "straight man" and "funny guy" are outlined. I actually found this opening funnier than the final opening used for the feature. Lastly, the alternate ending is provided. Unfortunately, it lacked the timing and humor of the final ending and definitely earned its slot on the cutting room floor.

Overall:

I can't remember laughing quite as loud or nearly as hard or as long at any film in recent history like I did when I saw American Pie for the first time! All the right elements came into play. The stars aligned and the spirits of Porky's, Meatballs and Animal House were resurrected and combined to make easily one of the most outrageously funny films I've seen in years! Flying high on the successes of American Pies 1 & 2 the film's makers sat down anew and attempted to conjure the same genius they presented with Jason Biggs and his beloved apple pie/kitchen island rendezvous. While I found Repli-Kate to be funny and cute, that old black magic just ain't what it used to be. If you're looking for an American Pie 3, I'd suggest you look elsewhere. Repli-Kate in all its efforts never attains that level of insanely silly humor. It tries really, really hard to recreate that timing and funniness but it just doesn't clear that last comedic hurdle. Funny movie but not on the same level as the creator's previous entries. Easily recommended