The quaint, indie, Canadian flipside of Can't Hardly Wait. This one stars Scott Speedman as the ringleader of a small group of just-graduated kids, wasting away the summer by hunting down booze and drugs and throwing a minuscule house party -- apparently in the middle of the afternoon.

Scott's parents are crazy about their living room -- one of those pristine model environments where the carpet has to vacuumed just so. Most of the party consists of keeping people out of said room, while Scott complains about his older brother (who eventually runs off with Scott's girlfriend), and getting the gang (none of the remainder are big (or even medium) names like Speedman) out of all manner of scrapes.

Meanwhile, across town, the parents are having a party of their own. Kitchen Party aims to show us how the kids are growing up while the adults are regressing, but the message is muddy. The jokes are a little flat, too, but the film isn't without its charms. The performances are surprisingly capable, and the direction works more often than not. The absurd ending is not to be missed.