Project X Review

Due to sore throat, audio portion will be added later.

Project X Review
By Darrin Jones / March 2

 
Ingredients: If you liked the unapologetic attitude of the Hangover, the whacky comedy of Superbad, and the raw nature of Kids, you will like this movie.

Project X is a film about Matthew Broderick’s character working at a chimpanzee facility...oh, wait a minute, that’s 1987‘s Project X. My mistake, 2012‘s Project X is a film about three high school seniors throwing the biggest party their quiet little neighborhood has ever seen. The story is told from a handheld camera and revolves around Thomas (as played by Thomas Mann) and his “epic” birthday party. The party is orchestrated and promoted by his obnoxious friend Costa (Oliver Cooper) and their token overweight pal JB (as played by Jonathan Daniel Brown). They score some booze, some drugs, and some sweet beats then proceed to throw the most outrageous party of their young lives.

Maybe I’m getting too old for movies like these. True I am in my early 20’s and judging by how hard the ticket booth attendant was looking at everyone’s licenses as they were purchasing their tickets, I’m just barely old enough to legally see this movie. So I wasn’t really looking forward to this film as much as the baggy-pants and baseball cap wearing crowd seemed to be. And why would I? I’ve seen tons of these movies. A group of dorky, unpopular friends throw a “cool” party in hopes of gaining popularity at school and, of course, having lots of sexy time with gorgeous babes. Yes I just stayed slumped in my seat as Costa reenforced how truly annoying he could be, Thomas illustrated how he didn’t have any backbone at all and JB expertly pulled off being the butt of half of all of Costa’s jokes. But then as we saw more and more of the party and the sheer number of hormonally driven teens gathering in one place the mood began to change. 

I slowly started to realize what I was watching. It wasn’t just some by the numbers teen-party movie. No there was something more here. Things were breaking. People were getting rowdy and less inhibited. This wasn’t about any party, this movie was about the complete break down of society. These kids were shedding off every ounce of authority. I was watching anarchy in the process. I was seeing chaos made flesh! I wasn’t watching a movie anymore, no, I was watching the pure remorseless hysteria of youth sweeping over the crowd of young men and women as they began turning into animals! No rules! No law! Anything goes man! Let it all hang out! SOMEBODY GET ME A SHOT OF TEQUILA AND A BEER-BONG!!

Whoa. Uh...sorry, kind of lost my head for second. In all seriousness, when Project X does shed it’s teen-party facade and you realize you’re seeing the logical conclusion to all those 90’s teen comedies and see the consequences of throwing “the greatest party ever.” You see just what happens when you’re willing to do anything to be popular overnight. The end even has these Animal House-esque freeze frames with their own explanations to what happened to all those responsible for the party and the consequences are pretty extreme. If you can get past the superficial surface of Project X you might like it as a really good satire of party movies and the 20th century American party-going youth. I can’t really recommend this as a good movie but it is most definitely an interesting movie. If you liked Hangover and Hangover 2, you’ll enjoy this movie and, hey let’s be serious, you’ve probably already seen it.