Project X

Amazon.com As a filmmaker, Todd Phillips (Due Date, The Hangover series) has shown an increasing interest in exploring the darker, unsettling side of slapstick comedy. (If he ever makes a Three Stooges movie, Curly aint getting up off of the floor.) The Phillips-produced apocalyptic party movie Project X certainly doesnt skimp on the oh-no-they-didnt comedic gross-outs, but, weirdly enough, it works best at the moments when it seems about to change into a horror flick. If youve ever stressed about a stain that just wont come out, this may be the movie of your nightmares. Shot in a multicamera found-footage style, director Nima Nourizadehs film follows a nerdy high-schooler (Thomas Mann) whose plans for his 17th-birthday house party go nuclear after his obnoxious friend (Oliver Cooper) assumes control of the guest list. The mayhem shown in the trailer? You havent seen the half of it. Nourizadeh and his writers (including Scott Pilgrims Michael Bacall) initially show an impressive command of escalation, as the out-of-control guests just keep piling in and the property damage steadily adds up. Unfortunately, the energy eventually outweighs the inventiveness, with the genuinely frenzied first half replaced by extended music video montages of women ditching their outfits. (Granted, the target audience may not have much of a problem with this development.) As the inspiration flags, the amateurish cast (most notably Cooper, who makes a strong bid for the most unlikable sidekick of the century) and lack of any inkling of redeeming social values do begin to add up, culminating in a finale that doesnt end so much as fizzle out. Still, even if it never quite delivers on its early promises of galactic bad taste, Project X contains enough moments of cranked-to-11 mayhem to satiate even the most ardent party animal, as well as provide a vicarious shuddery thrill for viewers who can vaguely remember their own all-nighters. Youll laugh, youll squirm, youll feel an urge to vacuum. --Andrew Wright Product Description Project X (DVD)Todd Phillips and Joel Silver, the filmmakers behind The Hangover and RocknRolla respectively, team up for the first time to produce an outrageous high concept comedy on an independent film budget. Featuring a cast of talented young actors, PROJECT X documents a high school party that spirals completely out of control. Captured from the cinema verite perspective of the digital cameras at the party, the film, scripted by actor Michael Bacall (Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds) and Matt Drake, and directed by music video helmer Nima Nourizadeh, follows a young man who simply wants a small get-together for his seventeenth birthday. What he gets -- thanks to his friends -- is the biggest, baddest and most destructive house party ever.]]>