Director David Frankel presents a mixed bag in ‘The Big Year’

“THE BIG YEAR”

Blu-ray widescreen, DVD widescreen and digital copy in one package, 2011, PG for language and some sexuality

Best extra: “The Big Migration,” an 18-minute making-of bonus that follows the film crew and stars on their journey of thousands-of-miles to locations such as Canada, Alaska, New York City and the Florida Everglades

“THE BIG YEAR” might not create a craving for birding like “Julie and Julia” inspired cooking. No offense to the millions of birders out there, but, for some reason the excitement of the hunt and the satisfaction of sighting and listing birds just didn’t come through to me in David Frankel’s flick, loosely based on Mark Obmascik’s book “The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession.”

Others find it a low key, family friendly comedy that provokes more smiles than guffaws. Big name stars Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson are the competing, cross country birders scouting out the biggest variety of birds in North America over the space of 365 days. Co-stars feature a major league of talent such as Corbin Bernsen, Tim Blake Nelson, Brian Dennehy, Anjelica Houston, Dianne Wiest and JoBeth Williams.

The Blu-ray disc comes with an extended version and a dozen deleted scenes indicating it could have been even longer. “The Big Migration” (in HD) shows the effort filmmakers put into to making “The Big Year” come alive by location filming instead of relying on computer-generated scenes. For that, it gets points although it never matches the quality seen in nature documentaries like “Planet Earth” or “African Cats.” Perhaps the biggest problem comes from thwarted expectations. With a cast featuring Martin, Black and Wilson, you expect big, fat belly-laughs. Frankel, who also directed “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Marley and Me,” has taken an unexpected direction here that will please some and alienate others.

The Blu-ray’s transfer is decent for a 21st century product, but still lacks clarity in spots and detail in others. As for the DTS HD surround track, you’ll get your money’s worth here with tweets, pecks, conversations and helicopter landings.

Other high-definition bonus features include a six-minute gag reel, theatrical trailer and BDLive capabilities.

— Toni Guagenti

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