Saw this on Sunday while waiting to see Godspell on Broadway (Go see it, it's amazing.)
I have to say that I am surprised by how much I enjoyed this film. I have never been big on Aniston and have tried to avoid her films in the past. However, I can easily say that this is one of her better films. She and Paul Rudd have great chemistry and a lot of jokes were really funny while few failed miserably. It's a pity that this film bombed so badly financially, because overall it was pretty decent for a comedy. C+
Project X has no plot. None. Project X has no name actors at all. Project X only has one star and that is "The Party." And that's what saves the film.
When I first arrived to the theater I was already about 5 minutes late (not including trailers) and was rushing to get into the screening. The ticket taker asked for my ID and took a ridiculous amount of time analyzing my picture (and probably doing the math on my age.) Now, I can pass as a 21 year old most of the time, but when I got carded a 2nd time outside the theater I became a little disgruntled (only time I had to do that was for Shame and that was NC-17.) They obviously didn't want minors going into this film (and probably with good reason.)
Project X is a found footage (or as I like to call "handy cam") documentary film about 3 high school losers who want to make a name for themselves by throwing the most epic party of all time. The characters are your typical formula high school underdogs. You have the straight man, the wise cracking mastermind, and the dorky weirdo. There is nothing new about the "quest to be cool" storyline except Project X takes it to 11 with a series of montages and crazy situations.
People are going to be divided on this film. Some could pass it off as a high school fantastical wet dream that amounts to nothing at all but 1 hour and 28 minutes of people getting drunk. Others will find pure entertainment in Project X and go in wanting to see people getting fucked up and get into crazy situations. I fall in the latter.
Project X is for us. The Generation Y. The kids of today who have been to that crazy party or did that one thing that one time that you never want to bring up again. I didn't go into Project X as a stickler film critic, but as a 19-year old college student (their target audience) who wanted to watch an epic party unravel. The film does not cater to older audience members. That's plain and simple. The older audience members in my screening went out feeling like it was complete nonsense while the college students and high schoolers were actually leaving in awe and wonder. It's wish fulfillment. A small part of us have always wanted to attend a party like this. And that's where the schism comes in. Not so much the age difference but how much how much you want to let go. Sure, we can't believe that a party like Project X wouldn't get shut down 30 minutes after it started. However, isn't that why we go to the movies? To watch the impossible become possible? This is a classic underdog story mixed with steroid pumped craziness. This isn't a film to watch by yourself. This is a film to watch in a theater full of people or at your house with your closest friends. The movie will grab you and will not let go. It's a party that turns into the end of the world.
I have to applaud the film for using the "found footage" filming technique to good use. Unlike Chronicle, the filming was a tad bit more believable (except when it started catching private moments) and it really helped bring that serial feeling which made you feel like you were invited V.I.P.
One of the things I can say against the film is the storyline between the main character, Thomas, and his hot female best friend. It felt like a forced storyline that the filmmakers felt needed to be put into the film to have some sort of a plot. They were trying to develop the romance between the 2 people and the whole time I was thinking, Why? There's a huge party going on and we have to take 10 minutes to worry about these two irrelevant characters? I can understand what they were trying to do, but for me, it fell flat.
This film is a trip. Not the best film of the year but def. the most entertaining.
This is Corey Delaney. Project X is loosely based on a party he threw in 2008 where he invited 500 people. As you can see he's a dick.
