I’m not sure what you’re expecting from a film that outright promises to celebrate a person’s 21’st birthday with debauchery. It is fairly honest and open with what it aims to do. This time the co-writers of The Hangover this time write and direct, and the results are pretty much what one might (and should) expect.
That comparison to The Hangover doesn’t just stop at the people who wrote and directed it. There are some themes and plot elements that are reminiscent of the earlier work. And that is what makes 21 And Over a bit of a disappointment – not in what it is, but in failing to do so in an original manner. Rote formula abounds in 21 And Over. From the typical Asian dad to the “Oh, I bet ___ will happen” or the accidental circumcision (in place of a facial tattoo) 21 And Over just… okay.
21 And Over isn’t bad, it’s just not good. It doesn’t do anything new, and it doesn’t seem to try, but in many ways it seems as if it thinks it is. With the bar raised by The Hangover, 21 And Over needs to “one up” that film, but in doing so it lacks originality. Had 21 And Over forged its own completely original path, it would have been a much better film.
This isn’t all to say that 21 And Over isn’t enjoyable, because it is, but it simply is a bit of a disappointment.
Jeff turns 21 the day before an important exam and doesn’t want to go celebrate, but his two friends wind up coercing him into going out. A series of accidents and unrealistic plot points later, and well, let me get on this. The whole “twist” to the film is Casey and Miller (Jeff’s friends) who have come to visit Jeff and take him out, but early on don’t remember where he lives. It’s a bit of a stretch even for those of us willing to enter into the suspension of disbelief.
I don’t know how well 21 And Over did at the box office, but I think the studio is just dumping it onto Blu-ray. There’s a surprising lack of special features. We get a gag reel, a sort of featurette about levels of drinking (less than 5 minutes that looks like it was supposed to be part of something larger) and another that looks at Jeff’s progressive drunkenness over the story.
With little to recommend it, 21 And Over is a film that doesn’t have a lot going for it, but at least it isn’t trying to be.