BEFORE: I love this time of year, because it seems like almost everyone is on vacation, so I can get a lot of work done at the office AND maybe watch a movie at the same time. Plus I'm catching up on TV, most of whatever summer shows I've been watching are coming to an end, and it'll be a few weeks before the new TV season starts, so I've got a shot this weekend at maybe clearing both of my DVRs. Hey, at least I've got my priorities. Linking from "Pitch Perfect", Donald Faison carries over.
THE PLOT: Multi-character teenage comedy about high school graduates with different agenda of life on graduation night.
AFTER: Remember high-school parties? Those crowded affairs in some unsuspecting parents' house, where people were crazy sick drunk, stumbling around looking for each other in crowds, hooking up and having awkward make-out sessions, or breaking up with each other loudly and publicly. Remember how much fun they were? Yeah, me neither.
But somebody made a film out of all those missed connections, crossed wires and misunderstandings, and set them all at one big graduation party where everyone kind of looks like that actor or actress who's much more famous now. This also hits a lot of the stereotypes one can expect from a movie set in high-school: the nerd who wants revenge against the jock who's tormented him for years, the secret admirer who finally gets a shot at telling the pretty girl how he feels about her, the white kid who acts all "street", and so on.
A lot of the seams are visible, though - some writing/directing shortcuts like the band breaking up before they ever get to play a song (convenient...) and then getting back together to play JUST before the party comes to a crashing halt. I assume they cast actors who couldn't even mock-play the instruments...
If there is a point to this one, and I'm not convinced that there is, it appears to be something about fate, whether we can control our destinies, or whether we're all stuck in the stereotypes we fell into in high school. The "Where Are They Now" titles at the end mostly serve to answer this question, so pay attention to those.
Also starring Jennifer Love Hewitt (last seen in "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit"), Ethan Embry (last seen in "That Thing You Do!"), Seth Green (last heard in "Mars Needs Moms"), Lauren Ambrose (last seen in "Wanderlust"), Peter Facinelli, Charlie Korsmo, Erik Palladino, Melissa Joan Hart, Breckin Meyer (last seen in "Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties"), with cameos from Jaime Pressly (last seen in "I Love You, Man"), Freddy Rodriguez (last seen in "Lady in the Water"), Jason Segel (last seen in "The Five-Year Engagement"), Clea Duvall (last seen in "Zodiac"), Eric Balfour, Selma Blair (last seen in "Hellboy II"), Jenna Elfman (last seen in "Friends With Benefits"), Jerry O'Connell (last seen in "Mission to Mars").
RATING: 4 out of 10 yearbook photos
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