The past year hasn’t been great for Bart (Finn Wittrock, Ratched, American Horror Story). He had a mental breakdown following the loss of his mother and his breakup with his fiancé, and he’s also been having issues finding work as a writer. His doctor is constantly trying to contact him to schedule a follow-up psychiatric evaluation, but he keeps ignoring their calls and messages. Bart has hardly any money in his bank account, and will be moving out of his apartment, and into his best friend’s garage at the end of the month.

Once he finally manages to find a job, writing for a medical supply catalog—which is far from his dream job—he decides to celebrate by smuggling some alcohol into the movie theater to watch “Being There” for the 100th time. He ends up falling asleep, and finds himself awakened by an odd woman named Vienna (Zoë Chao, Love Life), who says she is new to the area, and invites him to join her for a drink. There is definitely chemistry between the two of them, and Bart joins Vienna for the most enjoyable night he’s had in a long time. While Bart is an open book about himself, and how his life is in shambles, Vienna seems to dodge his questions of “What do you do?”, “Where are you from?” and “Why are you here?”. While he really enjoys Vienna’s company and the days they have spent together, Bart starts to grow concerned about Vienna’s secretive nature—she is carrying around stacks of cash, has no ID, and doesn’t own a cell phone—the latter being the biggest red flag to both Bart and his best friends. Who doesn’t have a cell phone these days?! Bart hasn’t felt this good in a long time, and continues to date Vienna, but persists in getting her to answer his questions. However, when she finally does, her explanation is a shocking, unexpected and unbelievable twist.

Somehow Vienna manages to convince Bart that her seemingly-crazy story is true, and asks for his assistance. While Bart’s friends worry that he may be headed down another dangerous psychological path, Bart is falling in love with Vienna, and is having the most magical and memorable long weekend of his life, and doesn’t want it to end. But the longer Vienna sticks around, the more it seems to affect her well-being.

I must say that I was quite surprised by Long Weekend‘s ridiculous sci-fi twist—I was expecting a more straightforward rom-com. However, the film’s charming and amazing cast make it work, and manage to pull off a delightful romantic comedy nonetheless. The chemistry between Bart and Vienna is instantaneous. As soon as these two come together for the first time on screen, the viewer can’t help but smile at their connection. They are making dad jokes, and doing bad celebrity impressions for one another, and its like they’ve been a couple for decades. It is fun to watch this blossoming relationship, and Bart go from a guy who seems to have everything going wrong in his life, to having hope of something wonderful. However, this relationship may end as quickly as it began, as Vienna’s time with Bart appears to have a deadline, even if they both want her to stay longer. The film blends tragedy and loss with hope and humor to tell an uplifting story of finding love. While the end it is bit ambiguous, I still found the film to be quite satisfying and delightful.

Long Weekend also features an amazing supporting cast, filled with some comedy gold. Bart’s best friend Doug (Damon Wayans Jr., Happy Endings) and his wife Rachel (Casey Wilson, Happy Endings) are absolutely hilarious as they struggle with their two rowdy young kids. They are completely supportive and encouraging of their friend, and are unfiltered around their kids—there’s a particularly funny scene when the whole family joins in on a chant about the fact that “Uncle Bart got laid”. I could watch a whole film just about this family! Other cast members include Jim Rash (Community) as Bart’s way too friendly new boss Larry, and Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs) as Bart’s friendly but foul-mouthed superintendent Patricia (I nearly didn’t recognize her without the big 1980’s Beverly Goldberg hair). They are each only in a few scenes, but always bring the laughs.

Long Weekend has been released on both digital and DVD. These days, I almost exclusively watch things in 4K or HD, however, I still found Sony’s SD presentation on this DVD to be quite satisfying. The picture quality was generally clean and smooth, with a pleasant color palette and decent level of detail throughout. There were just a couple darker scenes, such as when Bart and Vienna go dancing in the dark, that were a little more difficult to make out. The audio track provides clear dialogue and makes some use of the surround channel to add ambiance and give a more immersive experience, such as when Bart and Vienna visit a dive bar on their first date. The DVD disc is packed in a standard DVD keepcase without a slipcover. The release does not include a digital copy or any bonus material (besides some trailers for other Sony DVD releases).

What’s Included:

Film: (1:31:15)

DVD:
• 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.00:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Extras:

• Previews (5:28)
  Trailers for “The Broken Hearts Gallery”, “Yellow Rose”, “The Last Shift”, and “The Kid Detective” play back-to-back.

Final Thoughts:

Long Weekend starts off as a standard romantic comedy, but takes an unexpected sci-fi turn. However, the charm and chemistry of the main and supporting cast leads to a very delightful and charming tale that will have the viewer constantly laughing out loud. Sony’s DVD release looks and sounds great, but unfortunately doesn’t include any bonus material. The release is definitely worth checking out for fans of the cast and those looking for a romantic comedy with a different twist.