Critics call the found-footage teen movie immature, unfunny and even dangerous. By Kevin P. Sullivan Jonathan Daniel Brown, Oliver Cooper and Thomas Mann in “Project X” Photo: Beth Dubber/ Warner Bros. “Project X” is the new found-footage movie that claims to show the most out-of-control party ever. Well, it seems like the party might be over based on the reviews the film has earned. Critics have skewered “Project X,” calling it immature, unfunny and even dangerous. For some, that might sound like a ringing endorsement of the party, but when it comes to throwing a movie together, “Project X” is much less successful. Here is our roundup of “Project X” reviews. The Story “In suburban Pasadena, three exceedingly ordinary high school dudes stage a birthday bash for one of them, even though they’re hardly the sort of guys that you’d expect to attract a hot crowd. Thomas (Thomas Mann), the one turning 17, whose parents are going away for the weekend, is the dutiful son who has promised — oh, has he promised! — not to mess up their home.” — Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly The Laughs “It’s billed as a comedy, but there’s not a laugh to be had during the frenetic mayhem. There is also no plot beyond debauchery, nor characters beyond cardboard cutouts. Basically, it’s a setting, and a familiar one: a suburban home teeming with drunken, druggie, hedonistic, irresponsible high-schoolers.” — Claudia Puig, USA Today The POV “Aesthetically, the film sets the teeth grinding and the eyes aching. Presenting the spectacle from the p.o.v. of a home video camera documenting the event for posterity, first-time director Nima Nourizadeh and cinematographer Ken Seng swing the camera around with all the stability of a rowboat in a storm and unsurprisingly induce a strong facsimile of seasickness. The images tend to be dark and random, the music incessant.” — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter The Parents in the Audience “But only about an hour in, ‘Project X’ grows repetitive and starts running out of steam, and you begin to wonder what could possibly occur over the remaining 30 minutes or so. And not to get all mom-ish, but it does send a disturbing message to teens under the guise of ‘edgy’ entertainment. If you provide a setting and the means for strangers to get hammered, it will make you cool. If you are a young woman who wants approval, you must get naked and give up the goods.” — Christy Lemire, The Associated Press The Final Word “The only people likely to buy into the oh-so-shocking exploits of the teen comedy ‘Project X’ are those who can’t get invited to their own high school parties. Though the central blowout is as epic as advertised, so is the movie’s self-congratulatory obnoxiousness.” — Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News Check out everything we’ve got on “Project X.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
Go here to see the original:
‘Project X’: The Reviews Are In!
