Kodie Garza

Welcome to the fourth week of On PolarFlix, a column meant to do exactly what it sounds like: review films on Bowdoin Student Government’s movie streaming service, PolarFlix. Given that (if you haven’t heard) it’s Ivies week, we’re reviewing a true party film: “Project X” (2012).

Plot Summary (since the movie has a tenuous plot, either no spoilers or all spoilers depending on your personal definition of the word):

When Thomas’s (Thomas Mann) parents go out of town for his birthday weekend (yes, you’ve heard this type of story before), he and his two idiot friends Costa (Oliver Cooper) and J.B. (Jonathan Daniel Brown) decide to throw a party at Thomas’s house. A night that begins in a fairly innocuous manner ends with thousands of people in Thomas’s backyard, a car in the pool, police helicopters, drugs raining from a garden gnome and much of the neighborhood on fire. In other words, things get a little out of hand.

Best Mood for Watching:

The film has a really fun soundtrack, which lends itself to easy watching. The tagline on the poster is “The party you’ve only dreamed about,” so it’s helpful to be dreaming about or more broadly interested in a party while watching. On the one hand, this makes it the perfect film for Ivies week. On the other, it’s maybe too crazy? To the potential disappointment of eager first years reading this, I have to admit that Ivies does not generally include people jumping off roofs onto bouncy castles or yelling, en masse, “Cops go home!” as the police attempt to shut down an event. (I will admit with an increased BPD presence around campus in recent months, the latter does seem more possible this year.)

 Greatest One-Liner:

“I’m going to go have a long cry and then start calling some lawyers.” Costa says this after the revelry is over and the trouble the kids are in slowly begins to be clear. A word of advice: do your best to make sure that this isn’t what your Ivies Sunday looks like, unless of course you are a member of the about 30 percent of Bowdoin students with lawyers for parents and you’re just calling to have your regular Sunday chat.

Intended Bowdoin Audience:

The cool part about the party in “Project X” is that it has a real eclectic mix of guests. The cool part about Ivies is that you see most everyone you know on the Brunswick Quad at some point. I have some personal trouble relating to the movie in that all three of the main characters are kind of losers at their high school, and I have no idea what that would’ve been like (mostly kidding everyone!). Other than that, it’s meant to attract any and all people who like the idea of partying and/or watching others party.

Watch/Don’t Watch:

If I’m being honest, I think this is a pretty stupid movie. But, like almost everything else, it feels a lot more charming during Ivies week.