Jon Lucas and Scott Moore repeat The Hangover in this movie, while rehashing the same jokes and same ideas in a college party themed 21 and Over. On Jeff Chang’s (Justin Chon) 21st birthday, his lifelong friends, Miller (Miles Teller) and Casey (Skylar Astin), show up at his doorstep, unannounced, to celebrate all night long. However, Jeff has an important med-school interview in the morning and so convinces the two to take the night easy, a plan which quickly goes south. Miller and Casey eventually end up dragging an unconscious Jeff across the campus of his university in search for his apartment, leading to a number of alcohol filled shenanigans.
The movie makes good use of the characters by creating awkward situations between them. Casey is a straight shooter, with a future in Wall Street, but Miller tries to corrupt this with his perverted and childish antics. This results in some hilarious images and dialogue, however, apart from the situational humour, 21 and Over didn’t really have anything original to offer.
Most of the jokes lacked depth and could easily be transferred to The Hangover or The Hangover Part II without much manipulation. In fact, Jeff’s unconscious body acts as a similar prop to the baby from the original movie, The Hangover. It’s the crude humour that’s been seen before.
Teller and Astin play their parts well but, in my opinion, the script was weak and didn’t allow any proper character or plot development. Everything seems rushed in order to keep to the ‘college party’ theme. Miller and Casey’s friendship was forced, and I didn’t feel any real value in their relationship. They begin as great friends, but as the night continues, feelings of resentment surface. The two then make-up and we’re expected to believe that their friendship is stronger. But this was too hurried to add any substance to the characters. I was more interested in the drinking games and rude humour than I was in the well-being of the main characters.
There were also a number of timeline and plot holes in the movie. The trio crawl between a number of pubs before Jeff becomes incapacitated, making it seems as if they have partied into the dead of night. Yet, the following scenes place the movie in the late evening/early night. Additionally, Casey and Miller spend the entire night trying to find out where Jeff lives, despite the fact that they arrived at is front door in a taxi.
There were enough jokes and absurdity to keep me entertained throughout the movie, but there were a few aspects that I felt weakened it. It is definitely a movie that would appeal to groups of viewers that are in an upbeat/partying mood. It’s all been seen before, but the movie is still worth seeing if you have liked Lucas and Moore’s previous work. Overall though, the movie aimed to be fun, and it achieved just that. I’m sure I’ll be watching this again with a group of friends when it is released on DVD.
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 21 and over, Casey, Hangover, Jeff Chang, Jon Lucas, Justin Chon, Miles Teller, Movie, non-review review, review, Scott Moore, Skylar Astin |
the m0vie blog 
Maybe there was some sort of aspect to these characters that was worth caring about, but I couldn’t find it. Instead, they just seemed like the typical dudes that I would not want to see in my frat, let alone even the same party I was at. Good review Darren.
Actually, this one is from Ciaran, our reporter in the field! But agreed, good review!
Woops! Never mind! Good review Ciaran!
No worries! To be fair, I can only convince him to write occasionally. Cheers.
I enjoyed this movie, but it isn’t one I would normally go see on my own. In fact, the main reason I went and saw it is because my boyfriend was an extra in the bonfire scene… We caught a glimpse of him!!
Cool. I actually saw it last night. It wasn’t bad. Hardly great, very shallow, but I didn’t mind it for what it was. Juvenile and stupid, but very good at being both of those things – which is what a drinking comedy should be.