Rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, some graphic nudity, drugs and drinking (LOTS of drinking).
Starring Miles Teller, Skylar Astin, Justin Chon, Sarah Wright, Jonathan Keltz, François Chau, Russell Hodgkinson, Daniel Booko.
Written and Directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.
GRADE: * (one out of four stars)
GOSPEL-DOCTRINE-O-METER: (0) Zero Moronis: Okay, it's a movie about a bunch of college students getting drunk and trying to hook up - which might be a modern case study on Sodom and Gomorrah. Stick to the scriptures on that one, because 21 And Over offers no good outcomes other that the idea that friendship is important, bu only slightly more important than pickling your liver.
REVIEW:
Ah,
college. For many, those years conjure memories of opening one's mind
to vast amounts of knowledge and studies, while others can't remember
much, due to the consumption of vast amounts of alcohol and drugs. 21
And Over is a movie about the latter, brought to us by Jon Lucas and
Scott Moore, the guys who wrote The Hangover and The Hangover II.
The
story begins as Miller (Miles Teller) travels to a northwest college
town, where he meets his old high school buddy Casey (Skylar Astin) at
the bus station. Miller's plan is to get Casey together to surprise a
third high school pal Jeff (Justin Chon), a premed student, and take him
out for a night of debauchery on his 21st birthday. Jeff's mean,
overbearing father Dr. Chang (Francois Chau) happens to be visiting his
son as Miller and Casey arrive, and he warns the young men not to take
Jeff out drinking because he has set up an interview with a prominent
medical school early the next morning.
Of course, the three
party-boys ignore Dr. Chang's warnings and take Jeff out for an all
night bender, which leads the trio into all sorts of sordid adventures.
Among the encounters experienced by the boys are a run-in with the
campus bully, being hunted by a band of angry Hispanic sorority sisters,
a violent pep rally involving a rampaging buffalo and a frat house
drinking gauntlet. Casey even has time to fall in love with the lovely
Nicole (Sarah Wright), one of Jeff's classmates.
Before the night
is over, the boys must endure the wrath of the Hispanic sorority
sisters, Jeff's dad, Nicole's jerk boyfriend and campus police.
Despite
a few laughs, 21 And Over is as forgettable as most drunken binges (or
so I hear). There isn't much to see that we haven't already seen from
any of the other movies from Lucas and Moore, like The Hangover series.
21 And Over is nothing more that another lame attempt to prove that
drinking and being plastered is funny, especially when thrown in with
all kinds of pranks, sex, nudity and coarse language. I have grown tired
of filmmakers who think that because some raunchy movies are funny
(like The first Hangover), the key to success is to add more and more
crass material to get even more laughs. What we end up with a whole lot
of crap on screen about a subject (college binge drinking) that really
shouldn't be funny. I am familiar with a a few local stories of alcohol
poisoning deaths in university settings that prove this point, and films
like 21 And Over only serve to gloss over such dangerous behavior.
Please watch 21 And Over responsibly.
Better yet, it's probably more responsible to avoid it altogether.
You'll thank me in the morning.
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