Ever see the Tom Cruise movie Risky Business? Yeah, me too. Great fun, isn't it? But did you ever get to the end and think, "No way." Yeah, me too. Ever wonder what might happen if a party really did go out of control like that? Yeah...me too...
Currently grabbing headlines for it's inspiration of a string of costly (and, in one recent case, deadly) teen parties, Project X attempts to answer that question. Three high school kids decide to throw a giant, "epic" party to capture some fame, propel themselves to legendary status at their school, and hopefully get laid.
Produced by Todd Phillips and directed by Nima Nourizadeh, the film continues in the tradition of other Phillips films (such as The Hangover) by throwing the most despicable behavior in the universe on screen and using it as fodder for laughs. Unlike The Hangover, the laughs don't come nearly as often, which is far more unforgivable than anything done by its characters.
If you can choke down the stupidity, the teen sex, the drug abuse, the abuse of animals, and the never-ending cavalcade of absolute and unbridled misogyny, Project X does have its cinematic rewards. It is mildly funny, in its over the top zeal. And it does cause jaw dropping reactions as the scale of the chaos is pumped up past the point of no return and into the stratosphere. Plus, the found footage filmmaking method gives it an extreme verisimilitude (for the most part), resulting in a feeling that you are seeing something insane actually happening in this suburban neighborhood.
But the really egregious error the movie makes is in trying to spoon feed you some Pablum and make you think everything's okay. That's not the answer we wanted, and it's not even an answer that makes any sense. It's what one kid deplores in the movie as "bitching out", and though the movie expects its protagonists to be better than that, it has no problem doing it itself, leaving you to go home feeling cheated and unfulfilled.
Screw it, just rent Risky Business and watch that instead. At least you'll laugh more.
Rating: 2/5 Recommendation: Wait for cable. And read more of my reviews at clarketaculargeek.wordpress.com!
Currently grabbing headlines for it's inspiration of a string of costly (and, in one recent case, deadly) teen parties, Project X attempts to answer that question. Three high school kids decide to throw a giant, "epic" party to capture some fame, propel themselves to legendary status at their school, and hopefully get laid.
Produced by Todd Phillips and directed by Nima Nourizadeh, the film continues in the tradition of other Phillips films (such as The Hangover) by throwing the most despicable behavior in the universe on screen and using it as fodder for laughs. Unlike The Hangover, the laughs don't come nearly as often, which is far more unforgivable than anything done by its characters.
If you can choke down the stupidity, the teen sex, the drug abuse, the abuse of animals, and the never-ending cavalcade of absolute and unbridled misogyny, Project X does have its cinematic rewards. It is mildly funny, in its over the top zeal. And it does cause jaw dropping reactions as the scale of the chaos is pumped up past the point of no return and into the stratosphere. Plus, the found footage filmmaking method gives it an extreme verisimilitude (for the most part), resulting in a feeling that you are seeing something insane actually happening in this suburban neighborhood.
But the really egregious error the movie makes is in trying to spoon feed you some Pablum and make you think everything's okay. That's not the answer we wanted, and it's not even an answer that makes any sense. It's what one kid deplores in the movie as "bitching out", and though the movie expects its protagonists to be better than that, it has no problem doing it itself, leaving you to go home feeling cheated and unfulfilled.
Screw it, just rent Risky Business and watch that instead. At least you'll laugh more.
Rating: 2/5 Recommendation: Wait for cable. And read more of my reviews at clarketaculargeek.wordpress.com!