Director: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore.
Starring: Miles Teller, Skylar Astin, Justin Chon, Sarah Wright.
Running Time: 93 minutes.
Certificate: 15.
Synopsis: The night before his big medical school interview, a promising student celebrates his 21st birthday with his two best friends.
THE HANGOVER has a lot to answer for. On the plus side we have it to thank for the blossoming career of Bradley Cooper, but on the other we have the onslaught of disappointing gross-out comedies that followed. Jon Lucas and Scott Moore are responsible for penning the first episode in THE HANGOVER trilogy, as well as THE CHANGE-UP which followed and GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST which preceded it. With 21 & OVER, the duo make their long-awaited directorial debuts with a film they hope will capture the same spirit and mainstream success as their previous scripted efforts.
Starring a relatively unknown cast, 21 & OVER basically covers the same ground as the first two HANGOVER movies, where an alcohol fuelled duo have to get their massively inebriated best buddy home in time for an important job interview the following morning, with attempted ‘hilarity’ ensuing. Attempting to be ANIMAL HOUSE, the film comes across as a less funny and more annoying version of WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S, with a little PROJECT X and HAROLD AND KUMAR mixed in for good measure. What we get is predicable, profane and unfunny, featuring foul-mouthed characters that are largely unlikable, disgusting and totally unbelievable.
The sights of a young Asian man eating a tampon after mistaking it for candy, throwing up (in glorious slow-motion) on a bucking bronco and urinating into the crowd whilst stood atop a bar is either not very funny, or this reviewer is a lot older than he thought. 21 & OVER is offensive, mean-spirited and above all a dire, dire movie. Like a morning hangover after a heavy night on the lagers, it leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.
21 & OVER was released in the UK on May 3rd.
