Get ready— “Project X” is coming.
This film has been promoted with ads featuring Jimmy Kimmel, but has not gathered the buzz of a box office smash. “Project X” is the latest comedy to hit the big screen, and it is being released on Friday, March 2, in a theater near you. It has mostly flown under the radar, but like the party in the film, don’t be surprised if it blows up into something huge.
Filmed in home-movie style, “Project X” documents the 17th birthday party of a Pasadena teen, Thomas, and his two friends. They throw the party in an effort to be “cool” but have no idea just how crazy their night is about to get. To sweeten the deal, the whole debacle is caught on-camera by their shadowy cameraman friend, Dax.
The directorial debut of Nima Nourizadeh, “Project X” picks up where films like “The Hangover” and “Superbad” left off, featuring newcomers Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper and Jonathan Daniel Brown.
Nourizadeh uses style exceptionally well. The film has the raw feel of a homemade movie, but isn’t distracting or frustrating— viewers have said this was an issue in similarly filmed movies such as “Cloverfield.” He also has an incredible touch for recreating common high school stereotypes, which can be all too true, and he brings the viewer back to high school and into the movie. This becomes increasingly important as the film goes on, and the “cool” factor of the party goes literally through the roof. When the film ended, there was a tangible buzz of students comparing other high school parties to this one, or fantasizing about what this party would be like.
This film is raw— not only in the style that it is filmed, but in its content. The ratings advisory from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is “R” for crude and sexual content throughout, nudity, drugs, drinking, pervasive language, reckless behavior and mayhem. “Project X” got its money’s worth of the “R” rating, as there is hardly a scene in the entire film without cursing, teenage drinking and/or smoking, or nudity. In one of the trailers, the film even advertises that 35 tops were lost, and I think they mean during the film.
The bottom line is that this film is targeted for a narrow audience: College and high school kids who have been to parties, and can relate to the shenanigans that go on there. As anyone who has been out late on a Saturday night can attest, parties with alcohol do not always end well. “Project X” bares all and shows the good as well as the bad, from the disc jockeys and the zip line into the pool, to kids throwing up and passing out. One memorable scene features a 50-person beer bong.
Produced by Todd Phillips, director of “The Hangover” and “Old School,” this film definitely takes a few notes from the comedy giant.
One of the more brilliant features of the film is the use of unknown actors. Many dramas have had great success using non-actors or amateur actors in the past, and “Project X” successfully applies this to a comedy. The difference is palpable from the get-go. Having unrecognizable actors makes Thomas and his friends seem even more believable as outcasts in their high school.
That’s about where the reality ends.
Certain trailers advertise the film as “a parent’s nightmare.” “Project X” takes the more conservative high school movies of the past and cranks up the heat. But this immersive dive into the high school teenage party culture can, at times, overstay its welcome. Like an over-served guest, some of the nudity-based humor cannot take a hint that it is time to go home.
This film uses every gag imaginable. Whether it’s jumping off the roof onto a moon bounce, driving a car into the pool, a gnome filled with ecstasy or a man running around Pasadena with a flamethrower, this film has it all.
