We all know that parties can go in many different directions. Sometimes they can go smoothly and sometimes they can get completely out of control. From the stand point of making a film, I'd find it hard to believe that too many people would want to watch a movie about a party that goes off without a hitch. With that said, what direction do you think party in Project X is going to go in? I'll give you a hint: You might find tasers and a flamethrower in this movie.
Costa (Oliver Cooper) wants to throw a party and J.B. (Jonathan Daniel Brown) wants in. Although hesitant at first, his friend Thomas (Thomas Mann) decides to join in on the ambitious plan that could be a game changer for them. These three guys are losers in high school and they want to use this party as a way to transform their images, turn themselves into popular kids and get lots of girls. In order to do any of that, they might have to throw the biggest party the world has ever seen. That's exactly what they'll try to do and they're going to use Thomas' birthday and his parents' house as the date and place to do so.
With movies like this, you know there are going to be some crazy moments and you can also expect them to be some of the most memorable parts of the movie. In Project X, the main characters are more memorable than almost everything else. They were the best part and besides the music, they were nearly the sole source of the film's personality. Almost everything else is what you would think that you're going to see, so not a lot stands out or is really much of a surprise.
Outside of the build up toward the event, they spend almost all of the movie checking out all of the things happening at the party. The party featured the typical dancing, drinking, close-ups of people kissing and guys chasing after chicks. This is the basic stuff that you might expect from parties whether they're real or fake. Project X also had a lot of outrageous behavior working here. Some of that is good or at least passable, but other parts of it are more on the blah side of things. Some of the outrageous behavior seemed like a fifteen year old came up with it and didn't do anything for me.
If I were to describe this movie, I'd say that it's close to being an updated White version of House Party. This was more crass, less fun and filmed in the "Found Footage" style. That's basically what it is in reality. They took House Party, removed the rapping (and the high top fades) and added more profanity, drugs and nude breast shots.
Out of the stuff that I liked in Project X, I'd have to say the soundtrack was one of the coolest things in the movie. It's loud and it really creates an atmosphere for the movie that you would expect to have in any large party. Outside of the music and a few other things, the rest of Project X was average to me. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it much either. It wasn't as funny as it should have been and that's critical for movies within this genre.
There were times where I chuckled or smiled at some of the stuff going on and there were probably only a couple of times where I honestly laughed out loud. It never got to the point where it was a boring movie, but it did come close to stalling on a couple of occasions. Project X was able to save itself though, because it did deliver some consistent if only decent jokes along with some of the things that I mentioned earlier. That was enough to keep its head above water in the end.