21 & Over (2013)

Strong and Moving!

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

From the writers of The Hangover comes a knock off version. Two male students arrive on a school campus on the eve of spring break, naked except for their socks covering their penises. We then flashback to the day before as straitlaced Casey (Skylar Astin) and partying Miller (Miles Teller) visit their old high school friend Jeff Chang (Justin Chon) on campus to celebrate his 21st birthday.Jeff Chang has an important interview the next morning for a medical school and his father is stern and uptight. He wants his son to be a doctor just like him. Casey wants an early night so Jeff can be ready for his interview but Miller has other ideas. This leads to boozing, vomiting, drug taking, brawling, chaos and plenty of embarrassing behaviour including getting spanked by a female sorority group that they earlier taken advantage of.However Jeff is out of it and they cannot find his house and he has that important interview tomorrow but as the night wears on they find that Jeff is unhappy in his studies and has had issues.The antics are watchable, Casey is cute with the ladies but somehow instead of being grosser and funnier it ends up being coy as it wants to deal with someone making their own choice for the future rather just being wild and crazy.

21 & Over was absolutely hilarious. It's essentially a lower budget and more youthful version of The Hangover and it delivers with the same type of humor. The acting is adequate enough by the main stars and the events that happen during the night make you laugh from almost beginning to end. The film doesn't take long to get into the plot and you ride the wave until the credits roll. There are some moments that feel a bit too ridiculous but they don't take too much away from the viewing experience. Overall, it's worth checking out if you want a good laugh. It's currently streaming on Netflix so go stream it whenever you can.

Miller (Miles Teller) and Casey (Skylar Astin) are old high school friends to JeffChang (Justin Chon). They haven't seen him for awhile, and they plan to party for his 21st birthday. Miller is a crass idiot. Casey wants to be reserved and is infatuated with beautiful Nicole (Sarah Wright). JeffChang gets pass out drunk, and the guys have to figure out where he lives.The three guys are lesser versions of better actors elsewhere. The story is a lesser version of other drunken party animal movies. Even the guys make-out scene is a lesser version of 'American Pie 2'. In this movie, it doesn't get a laugh. A lot of this movie don't get a laugh. I do like the guys, but the movie needs better everything. Jon Lucas and Scott Moore are first time directors, and it shows.

21 & Over seemed to be a film which came and went, and for good reasons. The trailer made sure to advertise that it was by the writers of the Hangover. This is what got people's attention of course. Now to the film, simply by reading the synopsis you could tell that it is similar to the Hangover except aimed more towards teenagers and college students.21 & Over is a mix of the Hangover, Project X, Superbad, and the American Pie films. Though all those were superior. While watching 21 & Over I tried to get engaged in the story and waiting for it to get better, but it rarely did. The lead character Miller was unlikable and far too obnoxious right from beginning while sidekick Casey was slightly better as the typical preppy nice guy. Jeff Change was the third wheel tagged along who's 21st birthday it was. His performance was a little better but felt forced at certain moments. We first see when they take Jeff Chang to the bar to celebrate for his birthday (realistic), then he gets heavily wasted and can't wake up. It goes on for far too long where we see Miller and Casey carry him around town across to Sonoritys until they can find information to where he lives. It was hard to believe that through this entire time he was still drunk and was not able to wake up. About over an hour of story time (the time in the film from where they went) is with him being passed out. This wasn't realistic, and two close friends would have made sure to wake up their drunk friend so they wouldn't have to go through all the trouble that the characters went through in the film.Low on laughs though many people will of course laugh at the situations that Miller and Casey get themselves in (including a scene where they sneak in the wrong Sorority house), along with the scenes with Jeff Chang acting under the influence acting crazy, along with the constant curses in the dialogue. There was also a lot of nudity in the film (more so male nudity than female nudity). The ending scenes of the film where we see Miller and Casey break Jeff Change out of the hospital is around where the film becomes better. We see the two of break him out (Jeff Chang still being sick) throwing him out the window landing on top of a vehicle, Chang then stealing the vehicle and taking himself along with Miller and Casey to his house to get ready for his interview later on in a few minutes. Very predictable as we then see Chang not really wanting to become a doctor but being forced but his over protective father. I enjoyed how this all spilled out, as it felt more realistic than it's previous parts. Also enjoyed how along their journey, people were telling information about Jeff Chang that had them in shock (failing is science program, partially bring a criminal, stealing a gun, etc.). The very last scene seemed to be left over for a sequel. Miller having confidence in himself enrolls himself into college, we then see him (from an obvious hangover, his hair dyed, in crutches as well as being late) opening the door for his interview as a he looks sees a the professor turned around in his chair, then as he turns around Millers notices a familiar face. It turns out to be the Chief (a character shown throughout the film in costume parading for his needs). They acquaint each other then the film ends.There were many problems and flaws I found with 21 & Over. Some of the them include; it isn't good enough for people wanting more, we have seen films like this in the past and executed better, most of the jokes aren't funny (including many racist jokes by Miller), the dialogue is filled with constant F bombs which is okay when well written but this was overboard, a lot of stereotypes of characters in the film, and the overall plot and the way it all happened was unrealistic.