21 and Over feels like either the first draft of the Hangover, or a cheap knockoff trying to launch careers. Mostly repeating the central conceit of its predecessor, 21 And Over mostly fails to capture the magic and mystery of The Hangover, with brief moments of success. Fortunately stars Miles Teller and Skylar Astin have solid roles under their belt, or they would be forced to use this on their resume.
It is Jeff Chang’s (Justin Chon) 21st birthday. Coming to school to celebrate with him are underachiever Miller (Teller) and goody-too-shoes Casey (Astin), friends from high school. Jeff Chang unfortunately gets really wasted, and has a big med school interview in the morning, so it is up to Miller and Casey to bring him home. Hijinks ensue in the form of hazing, pep rallies, drinking games, and drug use.
21 And Over more often than not makes the critical mistake of using nudity, drugs, or swearing as shock and awe cinema without any context. Context gives specificity to the shock factor: would Ken Jeong’s cameo in the Hangover be as funny or shocking if we did NOT expect it and have it tie heavily into the mystery and plot? In this case, randomness dominates the crazy scenes, which diminish their impact. There are a couple of exceptions, one involving a pep rally and a bull, and the other involving a merging of drinking games/video games. These scenes work because of the specificity of the situation and the ties to the plot that are lacking in most of the other T&A.
The characters/acting are also broad types imitated by actors who admire some of their predecessors. Miles Teller goes for the Vince Vaughn type: fast talking, blunt, arrogant but sweet. He’s got the beats down, but the script doesn’t give him any charisma; he mostly comes off as too smarmy and bipolar (to service the plot). Skylar Astin is going for one of the Wilson brothers here; shy but sweet with a wild side and capable of loving. He has even less personality than Teller, though their banter together is believable if uninteresting. The wild card here is Justin Chon, who is kind of Harold from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, but more oppressed by his parents. He is the lost potential of 21 And Over, as his character has the most interesting beats that remain mostly in the background in favor of the obvious joke.
21 And Over is pointless passable entertainment. There are worse ways to spend 90 minutes, but there are far better ones. 21 And Over, like the 21st birthday in general, will be forgotten the instant it is completed.