Punchline is a surprisingly hollow, unsatisfying film about stand-up comedy. It features many scenes of comedians braying their acts, alone on a stage, and you just sit there, wanting them to be funny, but the truth is that all of the stand-up routines in Punchline are pathetic and supremely unfunny. And you might say, But the film isn't really about those routines! It's about the relationship between Tom Hanks and Sally Field, and I would reply that the standup acts are essential to the believability of the rest of the film. It's precisely because the comedy of this film is deadly dull that the rest of the film follows suit.

Hanks plays Steven Gold, a failed medical student who moonlights as a headliner comic at a dive called the Gas Station. Field plays Lilah Krytsick, a put-upon housewife and mother who dreams of her own success on the stage. Hanks, the veteran funnyman, reluctantly tosses Field some comedy tips, and of course Field manages to unleash her inner comic brilliance. At the club, she's suddenly a sensation, the audience guffawing and helplessly vomiting into their laps. (I guess that really doesn't happen, but it's the lasting impression I have of the enthusiasm of these laughing bit players.) Improbably, Hanks starts falling in love with Fields (wait, isn't she Forrest Gump's mom?), and you're left staring at the screen with a kind of sleepy nausea.

Surrounding and intertwining this ridiculous story is a whole lot of bad comedy, made worse by the fact that everyone else in the film is laughing at it. You feel as if you've been transported to an alternate universe where you're not in on any of the jokes. The funniest thing about this movie is actually the earnestness with which Hanks and Fields portray their characters. Hanks is stuck with the wholly preposterous job of falling for the mousy and married Field and, when rejected, twirling across a wet street to the tune of Singing in the Rain. Field fares no better, feeling unhappy and unsupported in her marriage to a monster of a husband (John Goodman), who by the film's end is abruptly a loving and caring spouse. (He, like all the film's crowd extras, finds her material outrageously hilarious.)

Columbia/TriStar presents Punchline in a new high-definition anamorphic-widescreen transfer of the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This is an impressive transfer, considering the film's nearly 15 years. Detail and sharpness fare well, particularly in close-ups. Colors are warm and natural. I noticed no digital artifacts or edge enhancement.

The disc's Dolby Digital 2.0 track is focused toward the front soundstage, to be expected for a film that is mostly about dialog. The dialog comes across naturally and clearly. I also noticed crowd sounds coming from the rear.

Nothin'.

Punchline is a surprisingly terrible film, but if you're a fan, you'll find much to like in this DVD's transfer. Unfortunately, the lack of supplements is bound to disappoint.