Movie Review For Project X

Posted by Charmaine Blake on Mar 5th, 2012 in Comedy, Featured Articles, New Releases | 0 comments

Project X Movie Review

Project X came crashing through the big screen with tons of laughter and a wild party on March 2nd 2012. From the producers of The Hangover, Project X gave people a run for their money. So how was Project X received by movie fans? Here’s a movie review from Todd McCarthy:

Creators Of Hangover Creates A Whole New Party For Teens

“A grimly depressing, glumly unfunny teensploitation comedy about an epic all-night party that devolves into anarchy, Project X also is an intriguing blank slate, a sort of crude art object upon which viewers can project whatever feelings they have about the degenerative high jinks on display, since the film itself offers none. In that sense, this strange teaming of producers Todd Phillips and Joel Silver provides a curious cultural, generational and even political touchstone, one that will enthrall a portion of the high school/college age demographic it depicts, just as it alternately outrages, confounds and disgusts other, presumably older audiences.

The first question posed by this action painting of resolute irresponsibility is: Have teenagers always been this idiotic, or does Project X move the goalposts? The second might be: Did earlier generations approach having a good time with such surly determination? And the third is, definitely: Does this film set the standard for the nausea-inducing use of the unsteady cam?

Like so many other films of this ilk, the motivating factor in the screenplay by first-timer Matt Drake and Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the imminent 21 Jump Street) is the urgent necessity for teenage boys, specifically of the dorky persuasion, to get laid. Most particularly, this is what lanky, relatively nice guy Thomas (Thomas Mann) would like for his 18th birthday, so plans are hatched for a major, babe-filled blowout the night his parents leave town for the weekend.

Fortunately or unfortunately, taking things in hand is buddy Costa (Oliver Cooper), a crude, pushy creep who ignores any and all rules, including those requested by Thomas about limiting the party to two or three dozen guests and not allowing them in the house. Costa keeps saying everything will be fine, don’t worry about it, while making sure drugs will flow freely courtesy of a wildly unsavory dealer. In another movie, as played by, say Zach Galifianakis or Jonah Hill, the relentless Costa could have been a funny, over-the-top character, always goading his pal into ever-more-risky territory; here, as adamantly enacted by Cooper, he’s singularly loathsome, venal and without humor, and that he pointedly identifies himself as Jewish won’t make make guardians of the religion’s reputation at all happy.

From Porky’s to Superbad, the format is predictable, but what Project X does that is new is to drain the sweetness out of it; being a less-than-cool teenager has always involved awkwardness, angst and pain, but there usually is some fun attached, and the better films have not forgotten to make contact with the nearly universal insecurity and apprehension connected to the rite of passage. Here, the desperation level is too high for that; it’s all about getting booze, getting drugs, getting sex, now, now, now. Or, as Costa calculatingly puts it, “Tonight’s about changing the game.”

To read the rest of the article click here to go to Hollywood Reporter.

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Charmaine Blake loves movies, musical theater listening to music and taking pictures of anything that she finds interesting. She is a voracious reader and writer, and enjoys her time writing for New Movie Launches. Charmaine loves spending time with her pets and currently has a Siberian Husky, a toy poodle and a cat.