Project X uses horror’s found footage concept and applies it to the epic high school party. As a premise, this is not necessarily a bad idea; giving the party a you are there feel can help audiences reminisce about their famous blowouts, and help the audience feel like they are participating in the blowout of the century. However, the gimmick also exposes how thinly drawn the characters actually are. While that is not a deal breaker, it does keep Project X from achieving the verisimilitude of Old School or Animal House.
It is Thomas’s (Thomas Mann) 17th birthday. Since he and his two best friends Costa (Oliver Cooper) and JB (Jonathan Daniel Brown) are not as popular as they want to be, they decide to throw the party of the century. Once the party starts, it quickly grows faster than they imagined, which is one of Thomas’s problems. His other is deciding if he wants to pursue something more with his tomboy friend Kirby (Kirby Bliss Blanton) or using his notoriety of the moment and try to hook up with the hottest girl in high school, Alexis (Alexis Knapp).
The party as a spectacle is something very cool to behold, especially as it escalates out of control. It is always fun in passing to see random acts of craziness, and due to Project X’s camera we are privy to some doozies: cars driven into pools, topless bounce houses, and flame throwers. The gags are hit and miss, but fortunately the movie keeps moving from one to another pretty quickly. The main teen sex comedy points are hit: crazy gags, funny drug situations, and plenty of nudity. These party shenanigans are by far the high point of Project X.
If only the characters close to how awesome the party was, and herein lies the problem with Project X. The first person camera choice makes the director feel obliged to follow the three leads and how they interact at the party. Had the director been more sure, he could have made the PARTY the centerpiece, and made characters more as vignettes, which would have been a fresh movie idea no one has seen. Instead, we get characters who are hard to relate to. Thomas is the best developed; he does a good job showing complacency mixed with carpe diem. Credit goes to Thomas Mann for doing his best. Costa comes off like a pure douche, and has no redeemable qualities, and JB looks like Jonah Hill’s introspective cousin. Kirby and Alexis are paper-thin as well. The two security guards at the party are interesting, and personally do not get enough screen time.
What you see (and you see a lot) is what you get with Project X. There are fun scenes and hot people, but nothing in terms of story or characters. Project X does remind us of one thing: in high school, the party is always bigger than the people involved in creating it.