21 & Over (**)

Had this been titled 18 & Under it might have been an apt tribute to the teen boys for whom this may hold the greatest appeal, and for whom this mixture of drunken revelry, potty-mouthed dialogue (“I‘m gonna fuck you with alcohol”), and sexual titillation may seem transgressive. Of course, some of these teens may need to be accompanied by their parents, who are more likely to see this as old hat.

It comes from Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the writing team responsible for The Hangover, which I kind of liked, and can be seen as a very loose rewrite, or rehash. Instead of The Hangover’s Las Vegas, the setting is that other center of collective debauchery, the college campus. Instead of four over-30 guys, there are three 20ish ones. Miles Teller  plays the obnoxious one, kind of a pimplier version of the Bradley Cooper character in The Hangover. His straitlaced counterpart is played by Skylar Astin; he makes noises during the movie about the need to grow up. Their friend Jeff Chang (Justin Chon), rather than disappearing a la The Hangover, merely spends much of his 21st birthday in a drunken stupor, just short of requiring medical attention, presumably. This jury rigs a plotline in which his pals are desperately trying to get him home in time for his morning med-school interview.

As with The Hangover, the comedic elements include a series of mishaps, recurring characters, crazy revenge-minded persons (sorority girls, a male cheerleader and his posse), a large wild animal, and, of course, the “one-crazy-night” plot. Yet The Hangover seemed, if not exactly clever, at least a little bit fresh, and if not exactly plausible, then inhabiting its own reality. It had some element of mystery, even. Mostly, this appears composed of recycled parts of teen comedies past, possibly grafted onto a discarded old John Hughes script. Jeff Chang (always referred to by both names) is the most appealing character, except for the projectile vomiting scene and the drunk-driving scene, but he doesn’t speak for much of the time. Given the odd bit of quasi-racist humor in the movie, it’s probably worth mentioning the complete absence, as far as I could tell, of black people. Otherwise it’s barely worth mentioning at all.

 

IMDB link

viewed 2/26/2013 7:30 at Ritz 5 [PFS] screening and reviewed 2/27–28/2013