GO BACK TO MOVIES & TV SERIES REVIEWS

Well, everybody, after taking a long (bit too long,), hiatus, I am back to my reviews. And, boy, do I HAVE AN AWESOME MOVIE TO REVIEW TODAY! After watching it for the first time a few months. This is actually now one of my favorite movies of all time now. And, it is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a longggggg time. Ladies and gentlemen, let's take a look at: Take Me Home Tonight (2011.).

The plot is this: After graduating high school in 1984, four years after graduation, an awkward high school genius named Matt Franklin (Topher Grace,), uses his sister's(Anna Faris,), boyfriend's(Chris Pratt,), Labor Day party as the perfect opportunity to make his move on his high school crush (Teresa Palmer.). With the help of Matt's best friend Barry Nathan (Dan Fogler,), the party eventually escalates into wild and crazy events. 

Now that we go the plot out of the way, let's take a look at the amazing cast we have here. Topher Grace (Eric Forman from That 70's Show, Eddie Brock from Spider-Man 3,), plays Matt Franklin, the loser high school kid who works at Suncoast video store, and is stuck with what do with his life. He is desperate to win the love of his high school crush, Tori Fredericking, who happens to bump into him in the video store a few hours before the party. Grace gives one of his best performances, being both serious, and both hilariously awkward at the same time. This is the guy I am pretty sure we all have been at least at some point in high school. Plus, you REALLY feel a deep, personal connection with his character, and you really want to see him succeed. He is definitely the movie's best character. Dan Fogler(Fanboys, Mars Needs Moms,), is the movie's 2nd best character as Barry Nathan, Matt's best friend since 5th grade. Barry joins Matt to the party, after being fired from his job as a car salesman. Due to him having to give up going to college for that job, Barry feels like he wants to catch up on the years he missed, by attending this party. And BOY IS HE FREAKING HILARIOUS! Everytime Fogler is onscreen, I was dying of laughter, and all his scenes make sense, and his jokes all work, and are really funny. 

Another awesome character. Teresa Palmer plays Tori Fredericking, Matt's high school crush, and the focus of the movie's plot. I am gonna say this right now, Palmer is a really underrated actress. Especially in this movie. And, for being an Australian, she has a VERY good American accent. Palmer plays the role of Tori so naturally, and she is one of the most realistically portrayed high school movie girls characters I have seen so far on screen. Plus, her and Grace have flawless chemistry, especially when they are both onscreen together. It is both funny, and very touching. Anna Faris (Scary Movie, The House Bunny, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs,), plays Matt's sister, Wendy. She is an ok character. I felt like you barely get anytime to really know her character. She is too sporadic, and the movie just rushes her character's development. Plus, Faris's acting isn't that good in this movie, as she was just starting to become really famous around this time. Chris Pratt (Guardians of The Galaxy,), plays Kyle Masterson, Wendy's popular boyfriend. This guy has the embodiment of a cliche popular high school guy. Good looking, wild, crazy, loves to party, and is concerned more about himself than his girlfriendd. Too bad Chris Pratt has to ruin that character with his horrible acting. I am sorry. I loved him in Guardians of The Galaxy, but it seems like he plays the same character in almost all of his movies, and he always comes off as really annoying and obnoxious. 

Michael Biehn(Aliens, Terminator,), also plays Bill Franklin, Matt's cop father. He is such a serious, but also very mentoring, and cool character. Plus, he is pretty funny. And it's nice to see Biehn still in good movies eve natter his huge success in the 80's. Demetri Martin also plays Carlos, Matt's classmate from high school, who is now wheelchair bound, and works at Goldman Sachs. This guy is hilarious! Everytime he is onscreen next to Matt, he cracks some funny remark, either about Matt, or about life in general, and the things he says are so funny. Michelle Trachtenberg plays Ashley, a blakc-haired, drug-using party goer, who befriends Barry, after seeing him dance, and eventually becomes his love interest. She is an ok character, but she just says some of the weirdest things. Stuff that you would normally hear goth girls talk about. Speaking of dancing, Robert Hoffman plays Tyler "Dance Machine" Jones. He is the "best dancer" guy from Matt's high school. This guy is pretty funny, especially the way he talks, which is like 80's slang. Also, I had stomach pain after laughing from watching him and Barry compete in a dance off. Lucy Punch plays Shelly, the "horny" girl at the party. She is an ok character ,but has an EXTREMELY annoying voice, and spends most of her time just looking around for the next guy to sleep with. She even hits on Matt at one point, but luckily, Matt realizes his only girl is Tori. 

Then, here, we have the 2 weirdest, strangest characters this movie offers us: Angie Everhart as Trisha Anderson, and Clement von Franckenstein as Frances. Angie is an older woman, at the the bigger party Matt, Tori, and Barry attend near the middle of the movie, after leaving Kyle's house. While at the bigger party, Barry encounters Trisha, but, her friend, Frances, creepliy watches and makes weird noises as Trisha and Barry are making out. These 2 characters just make the movie go nowhere, and their scenes were a complete, utter, and just downright creepy waste of time. Luckily, the movie doesn't show them for more than 5 minutes total, so I'm not gonna dock the movie down a grade for these 2 stupid characters.

One thing this movie gets exceptionally right is the soundtrack. The music by Trevor Horn is pretty good, but the best part of the soundtrack, are the actual 80's songs the movie plays. And they are ALL awesome songs. There are actually 13 songs, but these were the best 9 songs that stood out (NOTE: I put the date of the song's release, just in case anyone was curious):

1.) “Take Me Home Tonight” by Eddie Money (1984) - This is the movie's best song, and why shouldn't it be? It's where the movie's title came from. And, it;s just a badass song, about having fun, and making the night last with your one and only girl. This song plays during the movie's DVD menu. 

2.) “Hungry Like The Wolf” by Duran Duran (1982) - This is another classic song, and is another great song about looking for love. This song plays during the movie's opening credits, as we scroll through Matt's yearbook from senior year 1984. 

3.) “Kickstart My Heart” by Mötley Crüe (1989) - this song plays as Matt, Wendy, Barry, and the rest of the people are heading to Kyle's house for the first party of the night. It's another awesome rock song, and just gives you a rocking, pulse-pounding, and party feel whenever you hear the song. 

4.) “Straight Outta Compton” by N.W.A. (1989) - this song is pure perfection. It helped make rap mega mainstream. And it is an awesome song in general. Lyrical perfection. Plus, the song plays during the scene where Barry and Matt steal a 1986 Mercedes 560 SL from Barry's old workplace. And, him and Matt lip-sync with the song, as they are driving to the party in pure excitement. Plus, the song is the original, explicit version, and it pretty funny to see Matt and Barry lip-sync to the loud shouting of the different cuss words. 

5.) "Let's Go All The Way" by Sly Fox (1985) - this is another awesome song. This song plays when Matt and Barry arrive to the party, and walk into the house. This song really helps set the mood for th crazy, wild night this movie provides for you. This song has a nice beat too, and is placed pretty nicely at the beginning of the wild house party.

6.) “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes (1981) - this is another great, but also very nostalgic, and touching song. It plays as Matt is already at the party, but sees Tori come to the party, as he admires her appearance in slow motion. Kim Carnes does excellent vocal work, and the synthesizer is very nicely used in this song too. It just a great, and romantic song. 

7.) "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats (1982) - this is the movie's 2nd best song. This plays during the scene where Barry does cocaine in the bathroom, and then struts onto the dance floor, in pure, hilarious energy, as he is both dancing with such energy, and flirting with every girl he encounters. Plus, the song is AWESOME! You can still play this song as parties today, and everybody will join in with you. It has an awesome bass slam, and a nice beat to go with it. And the synthesizer sounds badass, and the vocal work is pretty nice too. Overall, a perfect party song. 

8.) “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” by Wang Chung (1986) - this plays during the scene where Matt and Tori are dancing together on the dance floor. This is another really cool song, with a nice night-time party feel, and has a nice beat to itself too. Plus, it's nice to watch Matt and Tori interact so happily to this song. Even Tori says it's one of her favorite songs. 

9.) “Let My Love Open The Door (E. Cola Mix)” by Pete Townshend (1980) - this plays during the scene where Matt and Tori are driving alone together on the freeway in the stolen Mercedes, and begin talking about their years in high school together, and about guy and girl habits. Bascially, finally talking to eachother. And this song fits so well with the tone of this, quiet, but very well-meaning scene. It just has so much emotion put into it.

10.) “Live Is Life” by Opus (1985) - this plays the next morning, at dawn, as Matt, his friends, and everyone are heading home, at the end of the movie. This is another great song, and it has a pretty nostalgic feeling to itself too, making you really remember what a pretty good time you had with these characters in this awesome movie.

11.) “Don’t You Want Me?” by Atomic Tom (2011) - Ok, first thing you realize off the top of your head, THIS IS NOT AN 80's song. It is played during the movie's credits, and is in fact, a horrible butcher of the original, awesome 1982 version by The Human League. So, why am In including it in my list of the movie's best songs. For 2 reasons: 1.) It has a pretty nice beat, and 2.) the music video for this song, featuring the entire cast hilariously dancing, and recreating many different 80's movie scenes. In fact, you can go watch the video her if you would like. It's pretty funny, cool, and your parents could probably point out almost every reference in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RULH8dxZZ0 

The directing by Michael Dowse (Goon, What If,), is FLAWLESS! For only doing 2 other movies that came out AFTER this movie, this guy does perfect for his directional debut. He really makes you get so invested into Matt, who has one of the best character development for a teen movie character. He also captures the emotions of Matt and Tori's love story arc so well. Dan Fogler is hilarious too, and is the movie's main comic relief, and he gets funnier and funnier with each scene he is in. Teresa Palmer also does a wonderful job of playing Tori, and greatly proves her skills as an actress. Her character is nicely written too. One of the best female characters I have seen in a teen movie. Dowse's directing also brilliantly has many references to the awesome John Hughes and other great teen coming-of-age movies released during the 1980's. Even some of the camera shots and angles look like Hughe's movies. Even the film's overall look itself has a grainy, and old tint to itself, to make the movie look like it was released in 1988. This movie is really funny, and is in fact, one of the funniest movies I have seen in a while. And that's saying alot for a recent comedy movie. Most of the characters are greatly written, and are hilarious too. Yeah, there are some stupid characters, and ones who just waste time, but 98% of the movie's are enjoyable to watch. The film's story is very relatable too, and almost guy I know, including me, can see themselves in Matt, at some point in their high school years. This movie is pretty nicely paced too, for the most part. I wish the party scenes were just a bit longer is all. Just a tad bit. One thing I have to point is how underrated this movie is, and how unfairly it was treated by critics. This movie got so many negative reviews from critics when it came out, back in 2011. But, luckily, us, the audience loved it when it came out, and more and more people seem to be loving this movie as time goes by. In fact, the movie has a very good moral, and teachers a good lesson in the end: to take risks and not just waste life away, and also to have the best night of your life, but also strive to have your awesome future, great lief ahead of you, and be the best YOU you can be. DEFINITELY GO SEE THIS MOVIE WHEN YOU HAVE THE CHANCE! IT IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST-SEE! And, you'll enjoy it more if you are a teenager, like myself. Even go ahead, and have your Mom and Dad watch it with you. They'll relate so much with the movie, and point out all the cool 80's references this movie makes. And, for that, I am giving this movie a SOLID 10 out of 10.