• Reviews
    • Watch This
    • VODepths
  • Humor
  • On the Marquee
  • Looking Back
    • Classic Corner
    • Anniversary
  • Film Fests
Crooked Marquee
  • Reviews
    • Watch This
    • VODepths
  • Humor
  • On the Marquee
  • Looking Back
    • Classic Corner
    • Anniversary
  • Film Fests
Home
Reviews

Review: House Party

Jan 12th, 2023 Craig Lindsey
Review: House Party

Since LeBron James and his producing partner Maverick Carter gave us a brand-new Space Jam nobody wanted a year and a half ago, they’ve again gone back to the ‘90s to remake another beloved title in African-American households: House Party.

Instead of hip-hop duo Kid n’ Play playing teenagers getting into some raucous, rap-heavy shenanigans during a rowdy shindig, we have actor/singer Jacob Latimore (Collateral Beauty) and British actor Tosin Cole (Till) as two LA-based buddies/aspiring party promoters. They get fired from their house-cleaning jobs (never smoke weed in an area covered with security cameras!) and, desperate for cash, hold a big-ass kickback in the last mansion they cleaned. You wanna guess which current NBA legend owns that abode?

Just as he did with Jam, King James comes up short in producing a consistently funny film. Instead of an experienced comedy director, he gets first-timer/music-video helmer Calmatic. Although he’s made cheeky visuals for many an MC (after all, he is the guy who directed Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”), he can’t sustain yuks at a feature-length level. What’s even more upsetting is that Atlanta writers Stephen Glover and Jamal Olori penned the script, failing to come with the clever zaniness they brought to that show. The first half is basically characters spewing exposition at each other, filling up the runtime until we get to the party, which — from the way Calmatic flatly films it —seems to take place only in a couple of rooms. Glover and Olori do slide in some satirical silliness in the third act, as the main characters attend another more secret, more powerful soiree.


Of course, there are copious references and callbacks to Reginald and Warrington Hudlin’s 1990 original sprinkled here and there. But this remake/reboot/re-imagining/what-the-hell-ever has less in common with that hip-hop comedy  — which premiered at Sundance (Google it) and helped set off the ‘90s Black-filmmaker renaissance  — than the four (I shit you not!) sequels. Just like in those half-assed raunch-fests, this party relies heavily on celebrity cameos (Lil Wayne! Odell Beckham! Snoop Dogg! Cole from Martin?) and the gung-ho improv skills of the myriad comedians in the cast. 

Indeed, the funniest stuff comes out of the mouths of the comics, like Wild n’ Out regular D.C. Young Fly (as the party’s alcoholic DJ), Melvin Gregg (as a very imaginative thug), Andrew Santino (as a koala-owning neighbor), and the recently-departed Teddy Ray (as a security guard). Even a couple celebs give us some surprisingly nutty moments; Scott Mescudi (aka emo rap god Kid Cudi) has a ball basically playing the weirdo version of Kid Cudi some people think he is. 

These supporting players provide far more laughs than Latimore and Cole. Not only do they lack the charismatic chemistry of Kid n’ Play (who, yes, do have cameos in this) in the original, their characters — Latimore is a beat-making single dad and Cole is a scheming, wannabe influencer— are not that interesting. It’s another buddy comedy where the responsible yin and the irresponsible yang bicker, bust balls, briefly split up, and eventually work together to become better friends and better men, all while taking part in a tremendously bad idea — both the party and the movie.

C-

“House Party” is in theaters Friday.

  • Tags
  • movie review
Facebook Twitter Google+
Craig Lindsey

Craig Lindsey

Related Posts
Review: <i>Shotgun Wedding</i>
Kimber Myers

Review: Shotgun Wedding

Jan 26th, 2023
Review: <i>One Fine Morning</i>
Jason Bailey

Review: One Fine Morning

Jan 26th, 2023
Review: <i>Missing</i>
Kimber Myers

Review: Missing

Jan 19th, 2023
Trending
Jan 26th 9:00 AM
Reviews

Review: One Fine Morning

Jan 23rd 9:00 AM
Looking Back

The Refugees and Displaced Actors of Casablanca

Jan 27th 9:00 AM
Looking Back

Classic Corner: Play Misty for Me

May 10th 5:00 AM
Looking Back

Doctor Detroit: Dan Aykroyd’s Strangely Bland First Solo Act

Jul 3rd 9:27 PM
Movies

Taylor Sheridan Is the Worst: A Woman’s Perspective

Jan 24th 9:00 AM
Movies

The Chaotic B-Movie Retro Charm of Gerard Butler

Mar 30th 9:00 AM
Looking Back

All of Kevin Costner’s Sports Movies: A Beginner’s Guide

Nov 17th 9:00 AM
Movies

The Strange, Sordid Tale of Charles Bronson Lookalike Robert Bronzi

Jan 12th 9:00 AM
Movies

The Curious Case of Roderick Jaynes

Apr 14th 11:00 AM
Looking Back

American Psycho at 20 and the Idolization of Patrick Bateman

cmpopcorn_white3.svg
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Writers Guidelines
  • Members
    • Login
    • SignUp
    • Forums
telephone icon [email protected]
envelope icon [email protected]
© 2014-2022 Crooked™ Publishing
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}