Take Me Home Tonight

The mystery of Topher Grace's film career, and why it isn't better, continues with "Take Me Home Tonight."

Shot in early 2007, the movie stars the genial, talented alum of TV's "That '70s Show," this time moving forward a decade to headline a beery, coke-y tale set among early 20-somethings looking for love and meaning in various corners of greater Los Angeles.

Grace plays a disillusioned MIT graduate stuck working at a Suncoast Video store in 1988, when cell phones the size of dinosaurs ruled the earth.

The comedy echoes one '80s artifact after another.

It has the visual ambience (minus the self-importance) of "Less Than Zero." Its romantic wish fulfillment -- young Matt yearns for his high school crush, an investment whiz played by Teresa Palmer -- is straight out of a John Hughes picture.

The modest raunch, if such an oxymoron exists, harkens back to "Risky Business." Only a sight gag involving an airbag and some blow takes you by surprise.

Part of the problem here is Dan Fogler, who plays the nice-but-lost hero's abrasive coke-hound friend. I've seen Fogler on stage and he's funny -- big, often overscaled, but funny. In the movies he's consistently, flagrantly too much. And he just about murders an already ailing film directed, drably, by Michael Dowse.

Any coming-of-age film takes a huge risk concocting a narrative reliant on a massive lie, a deception that must be maintained until the breaking point. Here, the improbable fib is Matt's: He tells his crush that he's really a Goldman Sachs hotshot, to impress her. Then he must maintain the ruse. Fine. But we need better lines than "What am I doing? I'll never get this girl!" to justify such strenuous complication.

Please take the time to see "Adventureland," a great coming-of-age comic romance set in 1987. Especially if you haven't seen it. "Take Me Home Tonight," believe me, you've already seen.

 

     RSS

 

"Take Me Home Tonight" Movie Trailer

 

MPAA rating: R (for brief strong language, some sexuality and a violent image).

Running time: 1:37.

Cast: Topher Grace (Matt); Anna Faris (Wendy); Dan Fogler (Barry); Teresa Palmer (Tori).

Credits: Directed by Michael Dowse; written by Dowse, Jackie Filgo and Jeff Filgo; produced by Ryan Kavanaugh, Jim Whitaker and Sarah Bowen. A Relativity Media release.

 

more MOVIE REVIEWS ...

Recent Movie Reviews - Films in Theaters

 

The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau
Matt Damon and Emily Blunt

The Adjustment Bureau unfolds on two separate planes of reality: the human world as we know it and the world of the fate-masters pulling our strings and controlling our destinies. Senator David Norris (Matt Damon), by chance, meets a dancer, Elise (Emily Blunt). Their connection is immediate. They part. But the mysterious 'bureau' tries to prevent him from redirecting his future

 

Poetry

Poetry
Yun Jung-hee and Lee David

Poetry is a small film and also a great one. 'Great' is a word I don't use often. Rampant critical overuse of 'great' has caused moviegoers to disbelieve claims of greatness on principle. But 'Poetry' was the most supple and satisfying narrative picture I saw last year at the Cannes Film Festival, and seeing it again nine months later has, for me, confirmed its value

 

Rango

Rango
Johnny Depp and Isla Fishe

A pet chameleon (voiced by Johnny Depp) finds himself suddenly free but lost in the desert, guided by a Quixote-like armadillo toward his destiny. This involves becoming the new sheriff of a miserable town called Dirt, the mayor of which controls the precious water supply. No one expects the new, citified boy in town to last long

Oscars Night Fit for The King's Speech
The King's Speech Best Picture

'The King's Speech' winds up the big winner at the 2011 Oscars, winning four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor

 

Copyright © 2011 Tribune Media Services, Inc.