Take Me Home Tonight

There were obviously a lot of people who believed in this little movie. After the film was shot four years ago (yes, you read that right, this thing's been sitting on a studio shelf for four years), there was a struggle behind the scenes for control over the project by the studio, and its star Topher Grace, who is also credited as a producer and with the story. He wanted his movie to be an authentic look at the L.A. party scene in the late 1980s. (As a tribute to this film's authentic look at L.A. in the late 80s, the filmmakers shot the movie in Phoenix, Arizona.) As the years passed, some very powerful people in Hollywood (namely Ron Howard and Brian Grazer) got involved, and used their money to help Mr. Grace's vision finally reach the big screen.

So, yeah, there were a lot of talented people who spent many years fighting for Take Me Home Tonight to reach audiences. The obvious question after seeing the film is, why? Why this movie in particular? It's not that it's really awful. It's far too timid and tepid to raise any real feelings of disgust while watching it. It's one of those movies that's just there up on the screen, playing out, and doesn't really leave much of an impression. When it's over, it instantly fades from your mind like vapor. Nothing much stands out about it, aside from a mild chuckle or two. You get the feeling that there was a lot more passion behind the scenes getting this thing out there, than there is in the actual movie itself.

So, as mentioned, the story is supposed to be set in L.A. in the late 80s. This turns out to be largely pointless, as aside from the soundtrack, a couple references to the decade, and the characters openly snorting cocaine once in a while, the story has nothing to do with the era or its location, and could have been set anywhere and anytime. Topher Grace plays Matt, a recent graduate from M.I.T. University who doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, so for the moment, he's wasting his potential by working at a Suncoast movie store at the mall. Even though high school was years ago, he still hasn't forgotten his teenage crush, the popular and lovely Tori Frederking (Teresa Palmer). Tori's back in town, and when she walks into the store, Matt is too embarrassed to let her know where his life has led him. So, he passes himself off as a customer instead of an employee, and tells her he's a banker working for Goldman Sachs, the joke being that there is no branch of that particular bank in L.A.

Tori invites Matt to a party she's going to that night, which he attends with his crazy best friend, Barry (Dan Fogler), and Matt's twin sister, Wendy (Anna Faris). On the way to the party, they stop at a car lot (where Barry was fired from earlier that day) to steal a better car, so that Tori will see Matt in something better than he usually drives. They also discover a bag of coke stashed in the glove compartment of said car, which Barry takes full advantage of during the night. As for Matt, he tries to track down Tori, and when he does, tries to work up the courage to tell her how he's felt all these years. That's basically the whole of the movie right there. There's a subplot about Wendy having to choose between going to England for graduate school, or staying in L.A. with her trashy boyfriend, who wants to marry her, that doesn't really go anywhere. There's also a giant metal ball at the party, which the guests keep on daring each other throughout the movie to get inside and roll down a hill with them inside it. We know that sooner or later, someone will get in that ball, and that someone will probably be Matt in a stupid attempt to show his devotion to Tori. And yes, the end result is just as underwhelming and idiotic as it sounds.

Take Me Home Tonight fails at creating the slightest impression. The main characters are underwritten, and many of the supporting ones are so vague, I'm still not quite clear as to what their relationships were to the main ones, or what they had to do with the film itself. There are some scattered laughs to be had, and a couple scenes that seem to be building to something, but the movie just seems content to move along at a leisurely pace most of the time. This film should be fast paced and fun, instead it crawls. I also found the casting quite odd. These characters are obviously supposed to be in their early 20s, but are played by actors well into their 30s. I know that this is nothing new in Hollywood, but it really doesn't work here. Besides, is Topher Grace really the best person to tell us what the L.A. party scene was like in the late 1980s? According to his IMDB profile, he would have been about 10-years-old at the time.

I'm trying to think of something that stands out about this movie, and aside from the likable cast (who have definitely done better things) and a fun soundtrack, I can't think of much. At the very least, I'm happy for Topher Grace that his long in development pet project is finally out there. I just wish it had been something more.

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