Reel Reviews: Young, dumb and drunk on rum
You only turn 21 once, (or if in Canada, 19, uh, or 18,) and to commemorate the special occasion many burgeoning grown-ups tie one on, a big one.
21 and Over is a film about the fairly ordinary adventures of three young friends celebrating the last of their gang reaching the age of majority.
We say, “There are no surprises here.”
TAYLOR: Although there isn’t anything particularly wrong with this film, it’s completely unimpressive, unless you are impressed by vomit.
HOWE: 21 & Over is brought to us by the writers of The Hangover, so for that reason alone I was looking forward to seeing this. Oh, how wrong could I be? In the opening two minutes, Miller (Miles Teller) must drop the F-bomb at least 10 times and that sets the tone for this movie right there. Some people might find that funny, and it can be if used correctly but in this, it isn’t. The writers should have done some research and checked out Eddie Murphy’s Raw or watched Roy “Chubby” Brown on YouTube, now that’s funny.
TAYLOR: There are funny moments in the film. I laughed (gently), exactly twice. The rest of the time I was thinking, “yeah, that seems about right.” These young fellas go out on the crawl, drink their faces off, revel in their ability to do so, play drinking games on campus, chase girls, get in fights, play pranks, throw up, glue stuffed animals to their privates, you know, the usual. What is lacking is comedy.
This movie is like going to an Andrew Dice Clay show (remember him?) For those of you who don’t, Clay was a “comedian” whose act wasn’t actually funny. The audience never laughed at the end of the “joke,” they cheered, or did the Arsenio “whoop, whoop.” 21 or Over is a “whoop, whoop” movie.
HOWE: This is The Hangover for kids. The problem is it’s not as good or funny.
TAYLOR: I agree. I might have found this slightly funnier if I was 20 or 25-years younger. I think a lot of teenage boys and developmentally delayed men would probably enjoy this more than I did. It might also be funnier if I was drunk when I saw it, but I have to limit the amount of tasty intoxicating beverages I consume to our monthly poker game. Party on, Pete
HOWE: Party on, Mr. T.
— Howe gives 21 and Over 1.5 tubesocks out of 5.
—Taylor gives it 2 games of beer pong out of 5.
The film is currently showing at the Galaxy Cinemas in Vernon.
— Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are movie reviewers living in Vernon, B.C. Their column, Reel Reviews, appears in The Morning Star every Friday and Sunday.
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.