by Jeffery Rahming, Contributing Writer
In its quest to make an unnecessary reboot of every movie ever created, Hollywood has gotten around to the ‘90s cult classic House Party. The original film followed the night of two high schoolers trying to achieve popularity and get the girls. It’s a time capsule of youth in the ‘90s, and dumb teenage fun. This new House Party asks the question: What if this time the party was lame?
This remake follows friends Kevin (Jacob Latimore) and Damon (Tosin Cole), who work as cleaners for L.A. mansions. During one of their jobs, they realize that the house they’re in belongs to LeBron James and hatch a plan to throw a party there. After coming up with this ridiculous idea, things only get dumber. The writers seem to have forgotten that the important part of the first House Party was the party, not the house. The idea of throwing a party at LeBron’s home is an amusing fantasy to joke around about with your friends, but it’s not interesting enough to carry a whole film.
This reboot isn’t able to capture any of the original’s charm for many reasons, but a key difference is that party culture in the ‘90s is far different from parties now. Parties aren’t as fun as they were in the ‘90s, and they’re definitely not as fun to watch. This party primarily consists of people in nice clothes spending most of their time complaining about what they don’t like about the event, instead of enjoying themselves. There’s a lot of unnecessary drama, and the main activity is wandering around getting drunk and stoned rather than dancing. It’s not that this doesn’t capture exactly what party culture is like in 2023; it’s pretty spot on. But that’s why it was a misguided idea to make a modern version of this plot in the first place. It was especially a huge mistake to make the characters adults instead of teenagers, which makes all the drama and juvenile comedy seem embarrassingly immature. What was previously a story about teenagers having a wild night is now about 30-somethings who peaked in high school desperately trying not to feel like losers.
But none of that would matter with a solid script, which House Party unfortunately lacks. The premise of partying at a famous basketball player’s house feels like a concept that comes straight out of a corny early 2000s kids film, rather than an R-rated raunchy comedy. It’s also not very funny, which is a shame considering the comedic talent present. It’s not the actors’ fault; they are constantly let down by hokey writing that doesn’t have much to say besides, “Hey, isn’t it funny that we’re throwing a party at LeBron James’ house?” That’s not for lack of trying though. The movie throws everything but the kitchen sink at the screen in an attempt to entertain, including multiple 10-second celebrity cameos that serve no purpose, a running gag about a stoned koala, and a dance sequence that tries and fails to recreate one of the most memorable scenes from the first movie. There’s even a scene that’s a cross between the movies Eyes Wide Shut and Gladiator and features Kid Cudi as a ninja (no, I’m not kidding, and no, it’s not as cool as it sounds). A lot of ideas went into creating this, but very few of them are any good.
That’s not to say there isn’t some fun to be had. The cast is full of great actors and comedians, and despite the weak writing, they are naturally talented enough to deliver some of the jokes. It also has the advantage of having a solid soundtrack, and in the brief moments when the bland dialogue stops, you at least get to nod your head to some hits. Even if the party sucked, at least the DJ was good.
In another throwback to ‘90s comedies, the credits have a blooper reel. If anything, it looks like the cast and crew had a great time making the film. It’s just a shame none of the joy translated on screen. This isn’t horrible, but it has no substance, and will soon be relegated to something that plays in the background when you forget to turn HBO off. It feels like being trapped in one of those functions that you just wish you could leave. Full of obnoxious people, not as fun as anyone’s pretending it is, and lasts far too long. You won’t miss out on anything if you skip this party.
Score: 3/10
House Party is currently playing in theaters
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