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Let’s Go To Prison has the pedigree to be a goofy yuk-fest comedy that, after being all but completely ignored during its theatrical release, may find a larger, stonier audience on DVD (see Mike Judge’s Idiocracy for another example of this). But it’s a mixed bag.

The premise of the film is simple, straightforward, and ripe with potential. John Lyshitski (Dax Shepard), a down-and-out repeat offender, and Nelson Biederman IV (Will Arnett), a preppie-asshole wimp, both end up at a particularly zany correctional facility where they learn to live and work among the gang members, crazed murderers, and plain old creeps who are in the big house with them. We get tons of drop-the-soap rape jokes (always funny, no?), and shiv-toting homeboys with visions of loaded gats in their heads screwing with the white boys. Taken as a late-night one- off, the film works nicely.

But this writer feels the pangs of disappointment, nonetheless. This should have been better. Bob Odenkirk (Mr. Show) directed Let’s Go To Prison, and you’d think that the guy would be able to infuse the picture with witty non-sequitors and excellently-nuanced running gags (two comedic facets Mr. Show was famous for), but between an overwritten voiceover (provided by Shepard) and a plot that takes far too long to get going (even with a 90 minute running time, this picture takes a solid half-hour to start), Odenkirk gets far too caught up in the mainstream-approved construction of his film’s narrative and forgets to have fun with it.

That being said, there’s something very atypical about Let’s Go to Prison’s humor syntax. Will Arnett (arguably the magna cum laude graduate of Fox’s Arrested Development) turns in a performance that is leaps and bounds more nuanced and subdued than this writer would have ever expected. Arnett typically falls in the same comedic line as his wife, the genius-in- her-own-time Amy Poehler (read: out there, aggressive and goofy as hell), but here, his turn as the newbie fish-out-of-water pretty boy is truly unexpected and unique.

Let’s Go to Prison won’t ever get a reputation as being a comic masterpiece, but for Mr. Show devotees and quasi-SNL film lovers, there are worse ways to spend an hour and a half in front of the boob tube.

And it has one of the best lines I’ve heard in a while. While in the slammer, Chi McBride says to Arnett, “Would you like some merlot? I made it in the toilet.”

Now that’s class.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Let’s Go to Prison arrives on DVD with a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, and it’s a hit-and-miss one. Black levels are consistent – if a little on the grey side – and fine detail quality is presented cleanly and distinctly (shadow detail is a bit compromised, but it’s not terrifically noticeable). The big trouble here is with color accuracy. Primary colors are inappropriately muted, and flesh tones waver in fullness and accuracy. The film’s aesthetic visual dynamic range is flat, to be sure, but it seems like this transfer goes a bit overboard. It’s not enough to ruin the film, but this isn’t a stellar transfer.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is equally subdued and ineffective. Dialogue comes across fairly well, but the film’s music cues are exceptionally loud in comparison (they drown out everything else in the track), and separation isn’t given a fantastic workout (especially in surround channels). Much of the time, this track feels like a marginally accented stereo track. Again, this doesn’t totally minimize the film’s effect, but it doesn’t help anything.

Also included are Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles, and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

I would have really liked to have an Odenkirk commentary, but all we get are a few deleted scenes (including an alternate ending), and a featurette about the film’s soundtrack (as well as some previews for other upcoming Universal pictures).

And as far as the difference between the unrated and R-rated versions of the film included here, I couldn’t tell much difference (their running times are identical).

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.