Rumor has it that this retro coming-of-age teen comedy, set in the neon sneaker and new wave excesses of the 1980s, has sat on the shelf for nearly three years. The reason why? Apparently, the "copious" amounts of cocaine use. With excessive smoking now earning an R-rating, that explanation does make some sense. What's even more telling however, is that the film formerly known as Kids in America is dull and painfully unfunny. Argue about the drug used all you want, but when a proposed laugher fails to elicit a single sincere guffaw, there's more than some little white powder keeping it from seeing the cinematic light of day.
Take Me Home Tonight tells the story of MIT graduate Matt Franklin (Topher Grace). At a loss for what to do post-college, he's busy pushing video tapes at the local Suncoast. There, he runs into former high school crush Tori Fredreking (Teresa Palmer). Wanting to impress her, he hints that he is in investment banking. As luck would have it, so is she, and tonight there's a big party at another classmate's digs. They agree to meet, meaning that Matt must get his rotund best buddy Barry (Dan Fogler) to vouch for him. To make matters worse, our hero's twin sister Wendy (Anna Faris) will be co-hosting the shindig, her dopey jock boyfriend (Chris Pratt) being responsible for the celebration. Natural, all manner of forced film hijinks ensue.
Take Me Home Tonight doesn't get it. It's so far away from the movies it wants to mimic that the reflection from said conceit would take a billion light years to reach its intended target. Unlike Easy A, which took the entire John Hughes teen mythos and milked it for all its humorous worth, this film actually believes it can better such '80s benchmarks as Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club. The secret ingredient? Cocaine, and...well, not that much of it. To pretend that Take Me Home Tonight shies away from snorting and sniffing would be laughable. Unfortunately, it's the only thing comic about this otherwise flat glass of Jolt Cola.
Exactly why are we supposed to care about Matt's romantic plight? His current career path indicates an indecisive dope who can't seem to make up his mind. Barry is no better, channeling the kind of callous Gordon Gekko wannabe mentality that will probably find him fatter, balder, and incarcerated by the time Clinton comes to power. Tori is a nice enough gal, but is she really dream girl material? Besides, she's relatively easy to woo, mocking the fact that Matt seemed incapable of catching her eye all throughout high school. About the only interesting character here is Michael Biehn's beleaguered cop father. He can't fathom why his genius son would waste an MIT education, and yet is more than happy to let him fall flat on his irritatingly idealistic face.
Put together with a magnificent mixtape from the era (the soundtrack almost saves things...almost) and a sprinkling of ancillary scandal (Barry is approached by the epoch equivalent of a Cougar, and her oddball Euro-trash companion who..."likes to watch") the end result is an engaging, if aggravating failure. We aren't concerned about the various relationships in flux. Instead, we gawk wide-mouthed at moments of outright stupidity, and fidget at the supreme lack of any real invention or novelty. If you're going to celebrate a shout-out to adolescent antics past, the least you can do is make the nostalgia seem new. Instead, Take Me Home Tonight relies on elements that weren't clever in 2009, let alone 1989. The 1980s have a lot to apologize for. Inspiring this mediocre movie is one of the decade's more complicated crimes.
Take Me Home Tonight tells the story of MIT graduate Matt Franklin (Topher Grace). At a loss for what to do post-college, he's busy pushing video tapes at the local Suncoast. There, he runs into former high school crush Tori Fredreking (Teresa Palmer). Wanting to impress her, he hints that he is in investment banking. As luck would have it, so is she, and tonight there's a big party at another classmate's digs. They agree to meet, meaning that Matt must get his rotund best buddy Barry (Dan Fogler) to vouch for him. To make matters worse, our hero's twin sister Wendy (Anna Faris) will be co-hosting the shindig, her dopey jock boyfriend (Chris Pratt) being responsible for the celebration. Natural, all manner of forced film hijinks ensue.
Take Me Home Tonight doesn't get it. It's so far away from the movies it wants to mimic that the reflection from said conceit would take a billion light years to reach its intended target. Unlike Easy A, which took the entire John Hughes teen mythos and milked it for all its humorous worth, this film actually believes it can better such '80s benchmarks as Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club. The secret ingredient? Cocaine, and...well, not that much of it. To pretend that Take Me Home Tonight shies away from snorting and sniffing would be laughable. Unfortunately, it's the only thing comic about this otherwise flat glass of Jolt Cola.
Exactly why are we supposed to care about Matt's romantic plight? His current career path indicates an indecisive dope who can't seem to make up his mind. Barry is no better, channeling the kind of callous Gordon Gekko wannabe mentality that will probably find him fatter, balder, and incarcerated by the time Clinton comes to power. Tori is a nice enough gal, but is she really dream girl material? Besides, she's relatively easy to woo, mocking the fact that Matt seemed incapable of catching her eye all throughout high school. About the only interesting character here is Michael Biehn's beleaguered cop father. He can't fathom why his genius son would waste an MIT education, and yet is more than happy to let him fall flat on his irritatingly idealistic face.
Put together with a magnificent mixtape from the era (the soundtrack almost saves things...almost) and a sprinkling of ancillary scandal (Barry is approached by the epoch equivalent of a Cougar, and her oddball Euro-trash companion who..."likes to watch") the end result is an engaging, if aggravating failure. We aren't concerned about the various relationships in flux. Instead, we gawk wide-mouthed at moments of outright stupidity, and fidget at the supreme lack of any real invention or novelty. If you're going to celebrate a shout-out to adolescent antics past, the least you can do is make the nostalgia seem new. Instead, Take Me Home Tonight relies on elements that weren't clever in 2009, let alone 1989. The 1980s have a lot to apologize for. Inspiring this mediocre movie is one of the decade's more complicated crimes.
