MovieFreak.com - The Hot Chick DVD Review

Starring: Rob Schneider, Anna Faris, Matthew Lawrence
Director: Tom Brady

Jessica Spencer is convinced she has the perfect life. She's the hottest, most popular girl in high school. One day she wakes up in the body of a 30-year-old man (Schneider). She quickly discovers that trading on your looks isn't so easy when you're a girl who constantly needs a shave. And until she can figure out how to change herself back, Jessica must find a way to win the Cheer Competition, go to the prom, and win her boyfriend back - all as a guy.

Rob Schneider’s material is either funny or stupid. The material for Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo lends itself to consistent jokes and situations. In the case of The Hot Chick, the material lends itself to stupidity and perhaps only two good jokes. Directed by Tom Brady, the film runs astray right after the opening sequence in ancient Egypt (or somewhere in that part of the world). I can see how the film's concept is interesting on the page, but on the screen it causes a backlash. Once Jessica and Schneider’s character switch bodies, turmoil begins. The sense of believability must be erased from our memory for us to follow the story all the way through. I understand it’s all slapstick and jokes, but it’s stupid.

The Hot Chick contains a few laughs. The rest of the jokes consist of racial and sexual remarks or references, perhaps the occasional toilet humor turns up once or twice. The script is based only on the concept, and while the premise of the film is for the two characters to change back into original form, there is not enough substance in-between to fill an hour of time or to make the viewer give a rat’s ass. I want to say Rob Schneider does his best here, but I can’t. His original character, the lonely bum, is obnoxious. His Jessica character comes off somewhat silly, sometimes likeable. In the end, though, he works his way through it. Anna Faris is the most likeable character, which shouldn’t be a surprise.

I could say more about the film’s faults, but I don’t want to waste time on your part and mine. Simply said, The Hot Chick is too ridiculous and doesn’t have anything more to offer than a slightly amusing concept. Adam Sandler is in this film as well and was in bad movies before (Big Daddy, for one), but Rob Schneider kept his movie record fairly consistent, until now. That’s too bad.

The Hot Chick arrives in a clean 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The color palette is used to various lengths and comes off nicely in this transfer. Color detail is evident and possesses strong depth and impact. Yellow and pink colors appear a lot in the film and the transfer picks up on them nicely. Basically, The Hot Chick is a colorful experience, but that cannot be said about the film. I didn’t notice any major discrepancies such as lines or scratches, but occasional dirt appeared a couple of times. Overall, The Hot Chick features a clean and very nice video presentation, surprisingly enough.

Loud and heavy music graces the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track, but that is all. The Hot Chick doesn’t have a focused soundfield and the rear speakers are used very sparingly, perhaps not at all. John Debney’s score plays nicely in this 5.1 track, but it is overused in the film itself. The score directs a pause or emotional event very often in the film, but no other sound effects penetrate the speakers. Obviously, The Hot Chick is not reliant on sound effects, but even the loud music (take a pick among the many songs) just comes out of the front speakers. Surround usage is not evident, but at times the noise of the track lifts the audio presentation above average.

Commentary by Director Tom Brady – This guy loves Rob Schneider and talks up the film to a point that seems to describe an Academy Award-winning drama or something to that effect. Brady obviously loves the film and makes this known throughout the commentary, but listening to his praise and whatnot makes me feel sorry for him. The reason is because the movie is quite bad and either he’s in denial over the fact or he views this film as great. Still, Brady keeps the track conversational and touches on a few interesting notes at one point or another.

Deleted Scenes – You get fifteen omitted scenes totaling circa ten minutes. An alternate ending is also included and I’m glad it’s not in the final film because it doesn’t make a lot of sense. The remainder of deleted footage amounts to mostly ridiculous stuff. You won’t find anything good here and that is the point, right?

Behind-the-Scenes Featurette – Labeled as the Hot Chick Yearbook, this featurette showcases several different areas of the production. "Becoming Jessica" focuses on Rob Schneider’s transition to becoming Jessica. Okay, that's fairly obvious. Next up is "Becoming Clive," but you can figure what it is about. Third, "The Hot Chicks" provides an in-depth look on the process of acting in the film, wherever it turns up. Lastly, "Physical Education" looks at the stunts in the film. If you like the film you might enjoy the Yearbook, but on the other hand you won’t get much out of these four featurettes.

Rounding out the extras department is Zed’s Starlight Music Video and a trailer for Shanghai Knights. The DVD offers English and Spanish subtitles. The menus are somewhat animated. The 103-minute feature is organized into thirteen chapters.

The Hot Chick is ridiculous, unfunny, and silly. Rob Schneider’s performance equals nothing like we’ve ever seen before, if you care to believe that. The script lacks substance and jokes. Anna Faris surprises, but that’s about all the good that can be awarded to the film. The DVD provides good video and audio presentations and a nice set of special features. Don’t waste your money on The Hot Chick, not even a rental, unless you have an obsession with Rob Schneider. Otherwise, don’t bother with this disaster.

THE MOVIE	2
THE VIDEO	8
THE AUDIO	7
THE EXTRAS	5
OVERALL (not an average)	3