Project X

Starring: Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown, Dax Flame, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Brady Hender
Directed by: Nima Nourizadeh
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Three friends decide to throw the most epic high school party of all time.

Review:

Tim: Project X is an interesting idea whose execution doesn't quite live up to the hype. I thought this was an interesting take on the party movie, and the script certainly positions this to be one of the most epic parties ever thrown. Unfortunately, there's some big flaws throughout this film that end up making this feel like just another high school sex comedy. There's not enough to sustain an entire movie here.

Besides a few mostly uninteresting side stories, this movie is almost wholly about the epic-ness of the party thrown by three unassuming, unpopular high school guys. We spend much of the 88 minutes seeing various scenes from the party- drinking, dancing, drugs, increasing levels of mayhem, etc. This might be fun to watch for some people, but it doesn't exactly contribute to the story.

The biggest issue I had with this film is the cast. There's just no one I could like or even relate to. I really felt like this film tried hard to copy the success of Superbad- you have the thin, straight guy (Michael Cera, Thomas Mann), the "funny", vulgar best friend (Jonah Hill, Oliver Cooper), and the nerdy kind-of friend (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonathan Daniel Brown). Here's the problem- Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are significantly funnier and more likable than Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, and Jonathan Daniel Brown. I just did not care about these characters at all. Of the three, Mann is the best, but he's still not a good actor. The problem is that he's just far too forgettable. The worst actor, though, is Oliver Cooper. Cooper tries so hard to be funny, but his character is just completely annoying. He tries way, way too hard to be funny. The appeal of Hill in Superbad was that he was effortlessly humorous. Cooper is just so over-the-top and gives such a weak performance that it ruined the movie for me. I hated Cooper in this film. Brown is pretty forgettable as well. I did not care about any of these characters, which is the most important thing in a film like this.

The events of the party are decently entertaining, especially as things spiral out of control. While the events of this film may seem implausible, this kind of thing has actually happened in real life- a party is advertised on social media and spirals out of control. It's fun to see the increasing destruction that is caused by a larger and larger party as it gets closer and closer to a riot, before finally erupting into utter chaos. It's fun when a guy with a flame thrower shows up and all hell breaks loose (and surprisingly, this is weaved into the story fairly well). The craziness of this party is the best part of the movie, and the media coverage at the end was among my favorite moments.

Unfortunately, a fun party does not a great movie make. There's enough visually here to keep our eyeballs interested, but there's not much of a story and not nearly enough character development. Plus, for a film that is supposed to be a comedy, this movie is quite short on laughs. I felt like Project X was an average movie in just about every way. I just hope we don't get twenty copycat movies thinking this is the next big thing. This film needed to focus more on the characters and less on the party.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Superbad, The Sitter