On this exact weekend last year we were treated to the outrageous teen party flick, Project X. No matter one's opinion on it, the thing it did well was toss the viewer right in the middle of the craziest shebang ever, where there was seemingly no line that wouldn't be crossed. Aiming squarely at the same demo is 21 and Over, which also features a lot of young folks drinking, vomiting, and acting like fools, but it's so formulaic and the characters so poorly drawn that there's no hope of it being any fun.


Miller steamrolls his buddies into going out for a little while, but one or two beers quickly turns into a few dozen shots. Before we know it, Jeff Chang is in a drunken stupor getting Teddy Bears glued to his penis. Because his friends are abnormally moronic, despite the script's weak attempts to convince us otherwise, Jeff Change constantly escapes, leading to increasingly unfunny scenarios. As the film flails around looking for a way to be shocking, it consistently leans on racism and misogyny as a crutch. At one point the guys find themselves in a Latina sorority, where the boys take advantage of a pair of half-naked, blindfolded pledges in a way that is disgusting at best, abusive at worst.
Unfolding in true Weekend at Bernie's fashion, the guys are forced to drag Jeff Chang's comatose carcass around while avoiding cops, angry Latinas, and the raging male cheerleader boyfriend of Nicole (Sarah Wright), a girl they meet who Casey has the hots for. She's actually a stabilizing influence on the film and one of the few bright spots in a comedic wasteland.

Teller, who has been excellent in nearly every film he's appeared in, runs off at the mouth with the rapid-fire anxiousness of Vince Vaughn in Swingers. Clearly that was the mandate, and the performance is irritating right from the start. He's better when his natural presence is allowed to shine through, rather than being forced down our throats like a shot of Jagermeister.
21 and Over only captures the youthful zeal for a few moments, as they all finally cut loose at a massive Woodstock-esque concert full of sex, binge-drinking, and bad dancing. It’s the one time where the filmmakers chose to create something spirited and fun, rather than aping something else. There are plenty of good movies that revel in their own irresponsibility and offensiveness, but 21 and Over isn't inspired enough to be one of those.