The Kominsky Method: The Complete First Season [Blu-Ray]

Cast: Michael Douglas, Alan Arkin, Sarah Baker

Release Date: November 19, 2019

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

Sandy Kominsky’s life didn’t turn out the way he’d planned.  His dream of having a successful acting career was slowly and inexorably replaced with the reality of being a mere acting coach.  As played by Michael Douglas, Sandy is now dealing with the even harsher reality of being an old man in a youth-obsessed culture.  Clinging to his best friend and long-time agent Norman Newlander (Alan Arkin), the two men are forced to confront loneliness, health issues, the loss of loved ones, financial calamity, grown-up children with grown-up problems, and estrangement from a world that is undergoing constant and rapid change.  The Kominsky Method shifts quickly from laughter to tears, and back again to laughter.   It is a story of friendship.  A story of life.

From Chuck Lorre, creator (or co-creator) of such hit shows as ‘The Big Bang Theory’, ‘Mom’ and ‘Two and a Half Men’ comes a new, heartfelt comedy about the often uncomfortable and challenging later years in one’s life. ‘The Kominsky Method’ follows acclaimed acting coach (but struggling actor) Sandy Kominsky (Douglas) who hasn’t quite arrived where he had intended to at this point in life, but nonetheless tries to find reward in the things he does have, including his reconciled relationship with his daughter and his longtime agent and friend Norman Newlander (Arkin) who is also finding this point in his life equally struggling. Together, this odd pair of bickering best friends attempts to navigate their changing lives and surroundings the best they can, and often to both hilarious and emotional results.

The debut season of ‘The Kominsky Method’ introduces viewers to a unique kind of sitcom with a surprising amount of heart and emotion at its core, and of course plenty of hilarious fun to balance it. Featuring a lead duo comprised of two acting greats, Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin bring intricate depth and soul to their characters (something many sitcoms never manage to accomplish, especially to this degree) and are further complimented by a talented and well selected supporting cast including Sarah Baker, Nancy Travis and many more. The show quickly manages to have the audience thoroughly invested in the lives and struggles of these characters; laughing uncontrollably one minute as things get hilariously out of hand, then sending you into tears without any warning. Altogether forming into a remarkably human comedy series that’s as rewarding as it is heartbreaking, but always carefully approached in every aspect. Never willing to sacrifice the story for cheap laughs, popular TV mastermind Chuck Lorre has definitely struck gold with ‘The Kominsky Method’ which is truly wonderful, not to mention addicting, and above all definitely worth taking the time to check out. Warner Archive’s Blu-ray release of ‘The Kominsky Method: The Complete First Season’ in specific compiles all eight episodes from the debut season on one disc, and although absent of any extras it serves up each episode with fantastic high definition video and audio presentations that should thrill the show’s fans looking forward to picking up the physical release of the debut season.

Overall, the first season of ‘The Kominsky Method’ is a promising debut for the Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin led series from Chuck Lorre that’s as hilarious as it is heartfelt, benefitting tremendously from fleshed out and relatable characters that are anything but perfect, but in no way despicable either and easy to root for; with a powerful and touching story at its center. For the fans of the series already in love with it and anxious to physically own the debut season, you should be thoroughly pleased with Warner Archive Collection’s Blu-ray release of ‘The Kominsky Method: The Complete First Season’ which offers impressive high definition video and audio presentations on all eight episodes, collected on a single disc. Although absent of any bonus elements, those who merely want to physically own the show in top notch quality should definitely be quite satisfied with the release.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Kominsky Method: The Complete First Season’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation on all 8 episodes utilizing an Aspect Ratio of approximately 1.90:1. The video presentations look magnificent altogether and provide sharp, clean and richly detailed presentations on each episode, with no noticeable faults or issues to be uncovered along the way. They hold up perfectly even during the various darkly lit and heavily populated moments, never allowing anything occurring onscreen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible at any point. Overall, these are wonderful high definition video presentations from Warner Archive Collection that are further complimented by more than adequate bitrates and should easily please the show’s fans.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on all 8 season one episodes. These multichannel soundtracks offer crisp, clean and occasionally fairly active audio presentations on every included episode. They take advantage of all five available channels whenever appropriate in order to send vehicle and nature activity, bits of dialogue, plus music and more throughout the various speakers quite consistently, and never resulting in any dialogue or other audio elements that may be occurring simultaneously becoming distorted or rendered inaudible in the process. Overall, these are solid 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtracks that deliver in every way necessary and nicely compliment this touching comedy series.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Kominsky Method: The Complete First Season’ doesn’t include any bonus content whatsoever.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 7/10

‘The Kominsky Method: The Complete First Season’ Arrives Home on November 19, 2019 on Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection & on DVD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

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You can purchase your copy of ‘The Kominsky Method: Season 1’ by clicking on the Amazon icon below, or purchase it directly from the WBShop Right Here!