The new party flick “Project X” is not a movie for the faint of heart. This movie is so crazy the best thing I can think to compare it to is if “Superbad” was turned in to a mockumentary and given the insane disregard for authority of a rebel faction. Now, I for one am not much of a fan of fake documentaries or the concept of “found footage” for films. I already had to suffer through this monstrosity of film technique with the movie “Chronicle” that was released earlier this year. So, I was not overly excited when I started watching “Project X” and it was the same concept. Fortunately the Camera action is kept to a bare minimum, but it still was an unfortunate distraction.
The plot itself was nothing new. A movie about a high school party that gets out of hand? Ya, I’ve seen it over and over again, but “Project X” took this trite plot to astronomical proportions. This movie was certainly meant for a younger demographic, and if you were even remotely offended by the American Pie movies, then this is certainly not the movie for you. All the cliché things that make a movie rated R is what makes me question if this movie was a waste of two hours of my life. Excessive nudity, profanity, and utterly over blown teen sexuality, and drinking make the movie a bit too overdone to be believable.
However this movie also takes overblown to a whole new level that makes me wonder if it was quite possibly the most epic movie I have ever seen. Adding violence to the melee took the movie to a level not yet before seen in a teen party comedy to date. I really can’t put my finger on what made this movie quite so cool and unique. When you dissect every individual element of this movie it has been done before and turned into a stereotype. But this over the top movie was really quite fantastic. Truly, the sophisticated part of my brain hates me for admitting that. Really, there is nothing thought provoking about this film, nothing advanced. It is a veritable display of everything that is base and crass about adolescence. The fact that teenagers are reduced to a mass of hormones and rebellion under the right circumstances is the only surface level lesson on humanity that can be excavated from this film.
Perhaps it was the characters that made me like the movie so much. Yes, having the “nerds “as the protagonist has been done many times before, but these nerds for some reason are particularly likeable; even if they pull some really detestable stunts. First there is Thomas, host of the party; an obsequious sycophant to all of his parents’ wishes. I mean really this kid is the definition of a spineless pushover. Come on, he lets his friend in a sweater vest boss him around for most of the movie. But, by the end he… well… he still lets everyone walk all over him, but he has a good time while doing it, even if it takes plying him with drugs to make him the life of the party. At least he gets there.
Then comes his friends. Trash your friend’s house… decidedly not cool. Throw a party at your friend’s house out of the goodness of your heart because it’s your friend’s birthday… how sweet of you. Invite so many people that it becomes a block party and incites a riot…funny. Now accomplish all of this with a Chalice in hand, a New York accent, and a sweater vest and you’ve got Costa; best friend of Thomas and a bastion of comedic delight. Then, there’s J.B. who doesn’t serve any real purpose other than as an outlet for ridicule and having a laugh at the nerdiest of the nerds expense. Honestly even though the characters are single faceted and have very shallow character development, I think it might be better that way. Really, you don’t get too attached to any one character. So, as the movie progresses it is easier to laugh at the characters without any scruples because they are all fairly ridiculous.
All in all, I still don’t entirely know how I feel about this film. After a complete analysis, I say that the movie pretty much balances itself out. I kind of loved it, but at the same time I kinda thought it was exceedingly stupid and unoriginal. What I will say, is that it made me laugh; albeit in a really primitive way. Just know, if you have any qualms with bawdy content I say skip it. However if your mind resides in the gutter at all times, I’d say it’s quite the romp and destined to cause a laugh.
