IT’S THE PARTY you’ve only dreamed about,
the tagline says. And if you were 17 years old again, you might be inclined to
agree. Not to be confused in any way with the 1987 sci-fi comedy starring Helen
Hunt and Mathew Broderick (or, for that matter, Corey Worthington’s 15 minutes
of fame, back in 2008), this teen party riot-fest stems from the home of THE
HANGOVER (or rather, its producer, Todd Phillips). No prizes for guessing who
it’s aimed at, or what it contains.
The story, such as it is, follows a trio of
oddball misfits, led by Thomas (Thomas Mann). His buddies Costa (Oliver Cooper)
and JB (Jonathan Daniel Brown) are determined their dorky mate will enjoy his
upcoming birthday in more ways than one. When Thomas’ parents take off for
their anniversary, a mammoth house party is soon underway.
The teen trio (with an even stranger
ring-in) happens to be documenting Thomas’s big day for posterity, thereby
offering an alternate take on the ‘found footage’ idea so prevalent in low-budget
horror success PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, its original predecessor THE BLAIR WITCH
PROJECT, the recent CHRONICLE and the current THE DEVIL INSIDE. A raft of other
similarly low-budget verités are also due to strike in the months ahead.
With PROJECT X – a working title that
stuck, having gained viral kudos with teens in the US – music video director
Nima Nourizadeh does well to keep us nervously watching, as the action unfolds.
The party soon begins to balloon out of control. At any moment, we fear the
worst.
His three young leads are also good,
particularly Mann, the only experienced actor of the three. The remainder are
unknowns, culled from a nationwide open-casting designed to keep costs down
(and, supposedly, to create a multi-ethnic supporting cast).
Like many micro-budget features, the
tension begins to dip midway, as we patiently wait for something dramatic to
occur. When the grand finale does eventually strike, it’s certainly unexpected,
but not overly satisfying. Still, for a film that aims for a real-time take on AMERICAN
PIE meets SUPERBAD meets THE INBETWEENERS (with a dash of HUMAN TRAFFIC thrown
in), its audience seems assured.
Critical
Rating: 7/10.
ED
GIBBS
First
published in The Sun-Herald.
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