Project X (2012)
Directed by Nima Nourizadeh
Three high school seniors throw a party to make a name for themselves. As the night progresses, things spiral out of control as word of the party spreads.
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28 films that influenced Project X
What critics say influenced Project X
Ever since 1983's "Risky Business," (or even arguably 1978's college set "Animal House") the high school party run amok and variations on that theme have been a staple, rejuvenated for the current generation by Judd Apatow with 2007's "Superbad."
A funny combination of “Risky Business” and “Superbad,” “Project X” is a fond look at high school parties and the people that attend them.
The setup for Project X is remarkably like that of Risky Business, except the stakes in that film seemed smaller but more convincing.
The film's guiding spirit, however, is Todd Phillips, who maintains his singular genius for updating the clichés of the Animal House/Risky Business era so that they look just dangerous enough to make nostalgia feel naughty.
Their script plays like what you’d get if you put Animal House, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, House Party, Risky Business and Superbad in a blender.
We've seen this premise everywhere from "Risky Business" to "Superbad," but what makes "Project X" stand out is that it goes big by super-sizing the chaos with plenty of low-brow laughs along the way.
Ever since 1983's "Risky Business," (or even arguably 1978's college set "Animal House") the high school party run amok and variations on that theme have been a staple, rejuvenated for the current generation by Judd Apatow with 2007's "Superbad."
Shot to resemble cellphone pics posted on Facebook by totally wasted teenagers, "Project X" is "Animal House" for the YouTube generation - that is, if "Animal House" actually was about torturing animals while innocent bystanders got tased, all without ever being, you know, funny.
The film's guiding spirit, however, is Todd Phillips, who maintains his singular genius for updating the clichés of the Animal House/Risky Business era so that they look just dangerous enough to make nostalgia feel naughty.
It’s determined to make you forget “Animal House,’’ “House Party,’’ and “Can’t Hardly Wait.’’
Otherwise, Project X is short on fresh characterization, and it didnt have to be that way; Dionysian bashes from Animal House to American Pie found some quirks in their kids.
The “Animal House” of the iPhone generation?
Ever since 1983's "Risky Business," (or even arguably 1978's college set "Animal House") the high school party run amok and variations on that theme have been a staple, rejuvenated for the current generation by Judd Apatow with 2007's "Superbad."
It specifically evokes 2007â??s seminal Superbad and 2010â??s underseen The Virginity Hit, each of which more hilariously encapsulated the awkward pursuit of cherry-popping good times, with the latter even employing the same handheld conceit as this film.
A funny combination of “Risky Business” and “Superbad,” “Project X” is a fond look at high school parties and the people that attend them.
In the vein of films like Superbad and The Hangover, Project X takes advantage of the simplicity of a party and runs with it.
If all this sounds like a rip-off of “Superbad,” you’re right.
Cooper brings some swagger to the poorly written Costa role, but the other newcomer actors are pretty blank, reminding you just how much crass adventures like producer Todd Phillips' own The Hangover or Superbad relied on actor charisma to hold it all together.
In the vein of films like Superbad and The Hangover, Project X takes advantage of the simplicity of a party and runs with it.
Producer-director Todd Phillips is making a fortune turning out knockoffs of his smash 2009 hit “The Hangover,” and someday he’s going to have to pay for it.
With the slimmest of premises -- clueless parents leave town for the weekend, son and two nerdy buddies unleash a 17th-birthday bash that ravages home and 'hood -- the rude comedy produced by shock director Todd Phillips ("The Hangover") doubles as a parental nightmare.
Are we meant to imagine that producers Todd Phillips (director of Road Trip and The Hangover) and Joel Silver put them together based on fan submissions?
The latest offender is Project X, produced by The Hangover's Todd Phillips and directed by Nima Nourizadeh.
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And at the time, it felt like I was Marlon Brando in "The Wild One."
At the end of movies like "American Pie" and "Sixteen Candles," you came to really like those kids who partied too hard and woke up the next morning forever changed.
In the ’70s it was American Graffiti, in the ’80s, Sixteen Candles, in the ’90s, American Pie, in the ’00s, Superbad, and now, in the ’10s, it’s Project X .
The all-night-party subgenre has been around for ages, including everything from American Graffiti and Sixteen Candles to Superbad .
It specifically evokes 2007â??s seminal Superbad and 2010â??s underseen The Virginity Hit, each of which more hilariously encapsulated the awkward pursuit of cherry-popping good times, with the latter even employing the same handheld conceit as this film.
The film, like the equally lousy "The Virginity Hit" before it, purports to have been assembled from actual documentary footage shot by some dude with a camcorder following Thomas, Costa and JB everywhere.
Taking the nerdy-kids-throw-a-party-and/or-try-to-get-laid template of films such as American Pie and Superbad , Nourizadeh and screenwriters Michael Bacall and Matt Drake strip the formula down to its bare essentials, dispensing with such niceties as character development, life lessons, and any sense of responsibility.
At the end of movies like "American Pie" and "Sixteen Candles," you came to really like those kids who partied too hard and woke up the next morning forever changed.
Together, they become this generation's boozy Three Stooges in this generation's "House Party" or "American Pie."
In the ’70s it was American Graffiti, in the ’80s, Sixteen Candles, in the ’90s, American Pie, in the ’00s, Superbad, and now, in the ’10s, it’s Project X .
Otherwise, Project X is short on fresh characterization, and it didnt have to be that way; Dionysian bashes from Animal House to American Pie found some quirks in their kids.
Where some films (like “American Pie”) feature a key party scene, and other films (like “Superbad” and “Can’t Hardly Wait”) feature an all-night party as the key plot element, they always have more things happening.
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But further comparisons to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off will only make you want to cry.
Their script plays like what you’d get if you put Animal House, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, House Party, Risky Business and Superbad in a blender.
It’s worth noting that a producing credit goes to Todd Phillips (director on such party comedies as “Old School” and the “Hangover” franchise).
Director Todd Phillips is a proud supporter of good-natured anarchy as evidenced by his movies "Old School" and the two "Hangover" films.
Produced by Todd Phillips (director of “The Hangover” and “Old School” ), “Project X” is ineffectively presented as some sort of real, found-footage assembly.
Maybe Phillips (“Old School”) is their Costa, the bottom feeder egging them on in their pursuit of the bottom.
He is, of course, best known as the director of both of the "Hangover" movies, as well as "Old School."