This Tuesday, Friends With Kids is released on DVD and Blu-ray. Following in the same vain as similar romantic comedies like Friends With Benefits and No Strings Attached, Friends With Kids tells the story of what would happen should two friends try to do a traditionally romantic thing without the romance. This time however, instead of sex, it’s raising a kid.

Friends With Kids, which was written and directed by star Jennifer Westfeldt, also stars Adam Scott and the majority of the Bridesmaids cast, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Chris O’Dowd. So what we have so far, before even getting to the movie itself, is an amazing cast with a lot of potential and a familiar concept.

But what Jennifer Westfeldt manages to do with Friends With Kids is quite impressive. First of all, the film is consistently funny and clever, and dialogue is sharp and witty. All of the actors show why they are so good at what they do, and Scott and Westfeldt ground the film with likability and charisma. Between all the sequences of screaming kids, yelling, and arguing, there is an underlying sense of charm that is due to the capability of the actors and the strength of the script.

Friends With Kids knows that it’s a romantic comedy. It knows that the audience knows the ending before it starts, and it knows that it’s not treading new ground. So what it does is embrace all of these facts to create something that can stand out above everything else. At times, Friends With Kids can be a meta experience where all of the characters know that they are in a romantic comedy. At other times, there’s too much else to like to even care.

But with Friends With Kids being released on DVD and Blu-ray by VVS Films, the real question shouldn’t be “Is this movie any good?” but it should instead be “Is this movie worth owning?” Either way, the answer is yes.

For a dialogue heavy film with no action sequences or special effects, Friends With Kids looks great on Blu-ray. The picture is vivid and clear, the scenes of New York create the feeling that you are there, and everything is presented in a glossy and romantic way. You might not think that it’s necessary to see a movie like this in the best quality possible, but the High-Definition transfer and crisp sound add yet another item to the list of reasons to like this film.

As for the special features, usually the biggest reason to buy a film on Blu-ray, Friends With Kids comes with the standard commentary track and deleted scenes, and a short making of video. While the commentary provides a little bit of insight into Jennifer Westfeldt’s mind and the behind the scenes of the film, the rest of the special features are nice to look at once but never really provide any entertainment beyond that. Which is fine, because let’s be honest, who really watched deleted scenes more than once? They were deleted for a reason.

When you buy Friends With Kids on Blu-ray what you’re getting is a movie that is funny, charming, and perfectly self-aware, presented on a format that suits it beautifully and will make you want to watch it over and over again. While there are often missteps in the Blu-ray market when it comes to films that are needlessly given an HD treatment and sold for an insane price, Friends With Kids should be both a welcome addition to your movie library as well as light on your wallet.

Friends With Kids hits stores on Tuesday, July 16^th.

[star v=25]