21 And Over is precisely the raunchy, mildly amusing time-killer you’re expecting

The dichotomy between what we want and what others expect drives conflict and change. Society expects certain things, like having a crazed, drunken night of debauchery when you reach the arbitrary age of 21. We also expect people to get all the crazy out when they’re young — otherwise it’s inexcusable. Experience should teach otherwise, so it’s said. But we also have pressure from family and friends, expectations of success and schoolwork, homogeneity and normalcy. Find a compatible romantic partner, a job correctly suited for us, and stay there for the rest of our lives. Is it any wonder kids go a little nuts and we revel in depictions of such nonsense?

21 And Over is just the latest college “coming of age” movie, in the more common subcategory of “becoming a man,” because apparently a girl is either the goal or the antagonist. Is that reading too much into this silly movie? No, but I suppose I don’t technically have to go that deep. The movie is about Jeff Chang (Justin Chon), a pre-med student with a big interview the next day, having a night with his old high school friends Casey (Skylar Astin) and Miller (Miles Teller, who was in last year’s similar Project X) to celebrate Jeff’s 21st birthday. Is it meaningful that the only character with a last name is Jeff? Is there a little bit of unintentional racism in the multiple repetitions of his full name throughout the movie? Yes. Of course, there’s a much more racist subplot involving a sorority with only Hispanic women, although I was impressed it wasn’t as racist as it could have been. Anyway, you can see where this is going — Jeff Chang doesn’t want to disappoint his scary and controlling father (François Chau from Lost, who is cartoonishly overbearing but doing well at it) but ends up passing out so his buddies have a few nutty adventures trying to get him home. Add in a recurring bit with a weird bully and his girlfriend that one of the guys may be into, and it’s basically what you expect. A lot of male nudity, a bit of projectile vomit, and even a few ladies flashing the camera. At least the movie exploits everyone.

Does everyone have a simplistic character arc? Sure! Casey is the straight-laced, if charming, Jewish kid going directly into a finance career after graduation, while Miller is the screw-up. So Casey has to learn to loosen up and enjoy life before he can’t anymore, while Miles has to get his life together. And Jeff Chang must find himself. There are a few very dark directions the movie tiptoes towards a few times, which is so tonally dissonant with the rest of the movie that it’s jarring and off putting, even if it’s all fairly predictable. The strength of the movie is the chemistry between the three leads, all of whom are pretty funny. It’s too bad that Jeff Chang spends the majority of the movie insensate. Some of the humor definitely crosses the line into offensive and unnecessary, but really this is just a movie about a bunch of kids trying to find themselves and having a few chuckles along the way. It’s not high art, but it’s not terrible.