Tonight is about doing; thinking is over-rated!
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Swift Shot: Decent trip down memory lane, this is a good renter with all your old buddies who will get all the references to 1980’s flicks, but this won’t be enough to keep the film interesting. I laughed quite a bit, but the tacked together feel of the story and transitions made me painfully aware I was in the theater and not immersed in the story.
I set the bar high for this flick, and it didn’t quite reach my expectations, I wanted more from the peripheral characters and I wanted to laugh a lot more. Plus, a lot of the film had this rushed feel to it. Also, on the controversial issue of the film’s release being delayed four years; I don’t mind seeing people degrade themselves to the point of stupidity, and hey, this is a film set in the 80s, so not showing a few characters experimenting with cocaine and larceny would feel false somehow.
What annoyed me was that I wanted to see less trite, one-dimensional, characters supporting the lead, Matt Franklin (Topher Grace). The Matt character was interesting, as he is faced with a second chance to win the affections of his high-school crush, Tori Frederking played by the “choicest” of young hotties, Teresa Palmer. Matt, who graduated from M.I.T., is still working for Suncoast Video, and he was supposed to be the brainiest kid in his high-school. So when Tori happens upon him at the video store, he lies about his station and says he works for Goldman Sachs . . . in fact he doesn’t even own the video store, because he is afraid of everything, really afraid to try anything. Yet, when it comes to Tori, this time anyway, he finds a pair and lies to her about his job . . . bad idea.
I had to suspend some disbelief that a guy donning the M.I.T. cap and gown would be so reticent to try new things, but, hey, I went along for the ride and tried to just enjoy the film. So, moments after she learns about Matt’s position at Goldman Sachs, Tori invites him to an annual party being thrown at overtly stereotyped 80’s rich-kid, Kyle Masterson’s house.
I found myself oddly identifying with the Kyle character, played by Chris Pratt who really put his essence into the role, he literally leaves nothing stuffed up in one scene in particular. But, where a lot of these rich-kids play the villain, Kyle actually plays a surprising victim, a victim of his lack of intelligence. He has one story that he repeats seventeen times throughout the movie, by the third time he says it, you won’t be laughing . . . neither does his girlfriend, Matt’s sister, Wendy who is played by the deliciously, devilish Anna Faris. It seems they wanted to make the Wendy character have a more pivotal plot-line than necessary, and a lot of the external characters had an almost cartoonish presence in the story, especially Michael Ian Black as Tori’s groping boss, Pete Bering.
Dan Folger stars as Matt’s best pal, Barry Nathan, a perpetual loser, who seems to be a card carrying member of the Murphy’s Law club – all his decisions up to this night have been wrong – and tonight is no exception. He opted out of college to work for a luxury car dealership, to always peddle what he will never obtain. Eventually, his poor decisions lead to the inevitable as he is fired for generally being a schmuck! When he hears about the party, he decides to steal a luxury car and let Matt roll to the party in style, there is some magical pixie dust in the glove-box, and Barry can’t resist. You’ll have to watch to see if Matt decides to “let it snow”.
But, the message of Take Me Home Tonight was a good one, albeit a tad dangerous, as Matt’s own father Bill (Michael Biehn) an L.A. cop challenges Matt to do something, ANYTHING that requires risk. Matt learns many lessons over the night, not the least of which is, do what you love, be who you are and OWN the night! Again, wait for this one to hit shelves soon and invite some of your 80’s friends over, but don’t be expecting to laugh your ass off, it won’t happen. Take Me Home Tonight tries to get a little too serious for my taste. I like my zany comedies to stay that way, if I want a Rom Com, I will put my testicles in a purse and assume the coma position, thanks!
