21 & Over

21 & Over is a party movie, and for that reason it has been getting some negative reviews. Party movies are played out, it is just another hangover. Seeing as how it was written by the some people, I can sort of see why those comparisons are being made. I have seen many movies get blasted online, only to enjoy them myself. But the question is, am I wrong?

Jeff Chang is turning 21, his friends Casey and Miller decide to visit him at college for the occasion. Unfortunately Jeff Chang has his big Med School interview the next morning. The movie sort of follows the Hangover formula, friends get messed up and bad stuff happens, but it is fresh and feels different enough. The 3 friends get drunk, and Jeff Chang passes out leaving the other 2 to watch over him. They spend most of the movie trying to figure out where he lives so they can get him home and ready for his interview. Much like the Hangover movies, crazy stuff happens to them on the journey. However this movie is rather tame compared to those, and honestly it works better for this setting. Hangover is about grand events that could never happen, 21 & over is not. While I would not say this would happen, it does feel more realistic, and fits in nicely with the college town setting.

The acting in the movie is about what you would expect. If you are unfamiliar with the cast, the 3 leads all have some acting credit to their names. Justin Chon is credited in all the twilight movies, and has done tv shows and work with disney in the past. Skylar Astin was recently in Pitch Perfect as the male lead. And Miles Teller as Miller, was one of the main roles in the remake of Footloose. Astin and Teller take the two main roles, and they work really well together. While Chon does get a few moments to shine, he is pretty much left out of most of the movie.

Is this the movie for you? Well it is written by the Hangover people, but it is not as raunchy. I would say if you are fine with those movies, this will not bother you. The humor is similar though, so if you did not enjoy those, you may want to pass on this one. I personally enjoyed it far more then I thought it would. It had a charm to it, I felt other movies in the genre have lost. I enjoyed seeing the 3 friends grow and evolve as the movie went on. Even Jeff Chang who was unconscious most of the film managed to develop his character. As much as I would love to talk about the ending, it just seems like it would be wrong of me to do so. So I will just say that I enjoyed the film for its duration, and feel it has been overlooked.