21 and Over Review

21 and Over strives to be the Hangover for a younger generation but doesn't quite meet the mark.

Jeff Chang is a straight A student, always doing the right thing. His medial school interview is tragically the day after his 21st birthday, and rather than listening to his father, he has a night he will never forget. Enter bad influences and his best buddies, Casey and Miller, who take Jeff from a single beer to a night of over indulgence and debachery.

Let's face it, this isn't the first time a story like this has been told. I seem to remember Harold and Kumar experiencing some similar aspects on their way to White Castle, with one of their futures at stake, but they had Neil Patrick Harris to help them smooth out the rough spots.

Remember the zany silliness of Zach Galifanakis in the Hangover? It saved many moments of the film, and kept an interest though the craziness, but it's utterly missing here. The jokes are drowned out by a story that maintains an inconsistent pace. Sure Jeff's friends learn a few things about him that they never knew,  but do we really care? The movie struggles to find its footing in an overpopulated field of films revolving around drunken nights.

The one saving grace of the picture is the bromance. It's heap on in abundace and the characters are actually likeable, though they purposely fall into cliches, borrowing characters from other similar movies rather than coming up with something fresh.

The movie is worth a peak even though the writers of the Hangover thought they could get one over on us by rehashing their used jokes. Some things are funny pure and simply. But the demographic is clearly those 21 and under.

21 and Over  came to DVD and Blu Ray June 18, 2013