21 & Over (2013)

Miller: "It's like the Da Vinci Code, except it makes sense."

By Jon Lucas and Scott Moore
With Miles Teller, Skylar Astin and Justin Chon

I was browsing through new movies and 21 & Over came up. It looked fun and mostly about young people getting drunk and doing stupid things, which can be really fun at times. I thought this movie would be similar to Project X (2012), which I thought was funnier than it looked.

21 & Over is the story of three high school friends who are now about to graduate college. Of them, Miller and Casey decide to take Jeff Chang out for his 21st birthday. Jeff Chang doesn't know and the timing isn't the best as he has an interview for medical school the day after. Casey says he understands, but Miller won't hear it. Jeff gets really drunk really quick and from then on it's a long hazy journey to bring him home as his friends don't know his address.

The movie was pretty stupid but it got me laughing on quite a few occasions. Miles Teller's acting and sarcastic voice always got me. The movie style and direction is pretty much a mix between The Hangover (2009) for the stupid alcohol fueled debauchery and endless searches, and Project X (2012) for the out of control teenage parties.

Casey and Miller have great chemistry and I thought they carried the film well. While some jokes definitely fell flat, the absurdity of most of the situations actually ended up being funny. I found it very over-the-top and maybe, for once, it's not such a bad thing.

I have to say it is not necessarily original in its story. The music adds a lot to the atmosphere. The movie plays a lot on stereotypes and communities which can be funny at times and dull at others. That's to be expected, though. This is a thin line that takes some risks to pull off successfully but overall, it worked out fine. I never got bored, even if it wasn't a laugh riot through and through. The tackling of some more serious themes such as friendship over the years, peer pressure or college drop outs is laudable but it is not present enough to have a real impact though not invisible enough to be ignored.

I liked: Miller is really stupidly funny. The whole party atmosphere was nice.

I disliked: Some situations or jokes try to hard and end up falling flat.

56/100
I think it's funny while it lasts and quickly forgotten once it's over, maybe that's how such comedies work the best.