Meet Jesse (Ashton Kutcher) and Chester (Seann William Scott), two stoner buds that got so wasted the night before, that when they wake up in the morning, they don't have a clue as to where they went or what they did. An irate telephone call alerts them to the fact that they trashed their girlfriends' house during the previous evening, which is pretty heinous since today is the anniversary of the day they started dating "The Twins." Hoping to set things right with their girlfriends, Jesse and Chester go outside to get their anniversary gifts out of the car, only to discover the that the vehicles is nowhere in sight. Thus begins the primary quest of DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? ($27), in which our dimwitted heroes go in search of the missing automobile by trying to piece together their lost evening of partying, in which they did everything from getting tattooed to winning a year's supply of pudding to having close encounters with some very hot strippers, as well as a few extraterrestrials.

Now I'll be the first to admit that DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? isn't great cinema, but it is a highly likable and funny movie, even if the plot is all over the map. Many have likened DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? to BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, which has become a stoner comedy classic. I don’t know if DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? will stand the test of time, but the movie induced plenty of laughter in my viewing room. Those who like stoner humor, as well as characters who are dumber than stones should laugh themselves stupid. The cast of DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? includes Jennifer Garner, Marla Sokoloff, Kristy Swanson, David Herman, Hal Sparks, Charlie O'Connell, John Toles-Bey, 'Stuttering' John Melendez, Fabio, Brent Spiner and Andy Dick.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has made DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? available on DVD in a 1.85:1 wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays. The transfer looks incredibly good, with the image appearing clean, bright, sharp and highly detailed. I'd almost say that the video quality makes this DVD demo material, but I think almost everyone would be too embarrassed to take this particular film into the local home theater emporium, so they could see how it looks on the latest hi-def displays. There is a bit of barely noticeable film grain that crops in a couple of places, which is probably the most negative thing I can say about the image on the DVD. Color reproduction is outstanding, with highly saturated candy color hues looking every bit as good as the DVD’s fully natural flesh tones. Blacks are right on the money, plus the picture provides excellent shadow detail, contrast and depth. Smooth authoring disguises all traces of digital compression artifacts.

For a comedy, DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? features a better than average Dolby Digital 5.1 channel mix. There is a bit more directional activity in the mix than most youth comedies, with the surrounds also seeming a bit livelier than usual. The entire soundstage has a nice open uncluttered quality, which provides a sense of spaciousness. Dialogue is clean sounding and fully intelligible. The musical component never sounds compressed or edgy and benefits from a solid bass channel. An English Dolby Surround soundtrack is also encoded onto the DVD, as are English and Spanish subtitles.

Animation and sound enhance the interactive menus, which provide access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a few cool extras. Topping things off is an audio commentary with director Danny Leiner, plus actors Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott. This is a very funny talk that almost offers more entertainment value than the movie itself. Anyone expecting a technical minded commentary wouldn't be watching this movie anyway, so sit back and enjoy the amusing comments. Also included on the DVD is a brief making of featurette, seven extended scenes that would appear to have been trimmed to go from "R" to "PG-13" ratings, a theatrical trailer, three TV spots and the Grand Theft Auto video for the song Stoopid Ass.

DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? is a pretty funny flick that looks and sounds great on DVD. Those who had to rush out to see the film in the theater will probably want to own a copy of the film, while everyone else should find it a diverting evening’s rental.

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Dude Where's My Car

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