Take three horny, but popularity deprived high school seniors, add one birthday party...throw in 1,500 guests--1,487 of which they don't really even know...add a bouncy house...a cute dog...a madly enraged drug dealer...and some upset neighbors. What do you get? True's 18th birthday party? Good guess, but the most we did wrong was gather a bunch of peeps outside of my bedroom window to watch a friend put the moves on a freshman. That's a good answer, but we just ended up with 30 people yelling "Turn her over!" A better answer would be: Project X. Let's face facts, my house was left pretty much in-tact. Poor Thomas' home...well, let's just say there were two deflated bouncy houses by dawn.
Meet Thomas (Thomas Mann). He's 17 and the proud new owner of a mini-van (birthday present from the folks). Along with joining the ranks of excited Soccer Moms everywhere, Thomas is also having a birthday party. His parents are off celebrating their anniversary so Thomas' pal Costa (Oliver Cooper) is throwing a bash. Costa has high hopes and zero accountability. His goal involves two kinds of thrusting: 1) He wants a party that gets him laid; and, 2) Costa wants to thrust he and his best two pals from the ranks of the unknown to a high level of top-of-mind awareness in his school's social circles.
Mission accomplished. Costa has quite the future in marketing. After all, taking a limited social circle, he created a party that created buzz on everything from the local news to Jimmy Kimmel Live! His advertising vehicles of choice included everything from mass e-mail blasts to posts on Craigslist. Soon, however, it's a party that's a little out of control. It seems that if you take a bunch of drunk and high people with no accountability over the welfare of their surroundings, they don't really care about those surroundings. Hmm...who knew!?! Yadayadayada Thomas learns way too many lessons in a 24-hour time frame and we learn what we probably already knew: to a 17 year old, accountability takes a distant backseat to the moment, which includes everything from a party that will boost his sagging popularity, to the party he wants to have in his pants.
It's not bad. I'll go with 3.0 Stars. Sure, the haters are just going to say, "Come on...it's just a Hangover wanna-be for the kiddies." True. You've got the Ed Helms character (Thomas--who is perfectly happy with a subtle life). You've got the Bradley Cooper character (Costa--who is under the impression that he's far greater than what his reality bears). You've got the Zach Galifianakis character (J.B.--who is just a little off); and, you've got everything from the gangster types to animals in an out-of-control, 'how did this happen' craze. So, yeah, you've got eerily similar plot elements, but there are also some unique things going on here a well. Let's see...uh...hmm. Okay, maybe not that many, but the bottom line is: it's a funny story that will simultaneously make you laugh and cringe.
For me, there was enough of a connection with Thomas to feel both a certain amount of happiness for him, while still wanting to slap him upside the head for living this 24-hour stretch with absolutely no thoughts toward accountability or a bigger picture whatsoever (that's the adult in me speaking). But, hey...that's life when you're 17, right? You can utterly destroy your home, family's lives and potentially ruin your future, but if you've got a bunch of people, who you've longed to have accept you, chanting your name...well, then you've had a pretty good day. Uhh...yeah...one more slap upside the head.
This one involves a cast of unknowns for the most part. Besides, Rob Evans (Thomas' dad), the only actor that is really 'known' in this flick hails from a supporting role in Footloose (Miles Teller). This may be by design. Yeah, Project X is one of those hand-held camera flicks, trying to base everything in a realistic, in-the-moment setting. Actually, the majority of the cast's characters use the actor's real names. Not sure why, but it is what it is.
All in all, if you want a little Hollywood escape that allows you to re-live some of your party past or present, while letting you wander what the party could've looked like if you, yourself (like the movie's characters) had no eye on the future or being accountable--then, you might just enjoy Project X. You might even wanna go BIG on this one. If, however, you've grown up to the point of cringing when your kid spills Big Red on the white carpet, then, this one will be an 88-minute nausea-fest for you. Heck, if that's the case, you probably spent the weekend watching The Lorax anyway!
True...OUT!
No comments:
Post a Comment