Kabluey DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Features Lisa Kudrow in Stop-Loss Comedy

This charming screwball comedy generates plenty of laughter while simultaneously ever so subtly addressing several sobering themes. It’s based on a semi-autobiographical tale by Scott Prendergrast whose own brother was stop-loss into a tour of duty in the Middle East. He co-stars opposite Lisa Kudrow who exhibits her trademark charm, perfect comic timing and an endearing emotional range in a role intermittently calling for a certain gravitas.
The story revolves around emotionally and financially challenged Leslie (Kudrow) who has stoically been trying to hold down the fort since her husband Noah’s (Phil Thoden) National Guard unit shipped out to Iraq. Between working full-time and raising their two boys (Cameron Wofford and Landon Henninger) alone, the frazzled mom barely has any downtime to relax, let alone worry about Noah’s safety.
The sort of help she doesn’t exactly need arrives when her unemployed brother-in-law, Salman (Prendergrast), shows up needing a place to crash, having recently been fired from an entry-level position as a clerk at a copy store. He proves to be so pathetic as a babysitter, that she instead finds him a job at her real estate company as its corporate mascot, Kabluey.
Much of the ensuing slapstick emanates from his interacting with strangers while standing on the street passing out flyers at the height of summer in a heat-seeking baby blue outfit covering him from head to toe. Meanwhile, there is a disarming darkness and depth to Leslie’s character, whose evolution hints at the plausible plight of countless similarly-situated Army wives in real life.
A worthwhile “melan-comedy” (a term coined by Prendergast) which delivers a feminist statement merely by questioning the conventional patriotic wisdom that all wars are fought for God, mom and apple pie.

Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality, a crude reference and brief profanity.
Running time: 86 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Features: 25 deleted scenes.

To see a trailer of Kabluey, visit: http://youtube.com/watch?v=o24NNR8o9a0