I was fortunate enough to see a very early screening of this movie on February 8 at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. At that screening, stars Topher Grace and Demetri Martin, who has a cameo, introduced the film and did a Q&A. Both are very funny guys, which makes sense, because "Take Me Home Tonight" ended up being hilarious.
Matt Franklin (Topher Grace, "Valentine's Day") has just graduated from MIT and doesn't know what he wants to do in life, so he takes a low-paying job at Suncoast Video and moves back home with his parents. His twin sister, Wendy (Anna Faris, "Observe and Report"), is about to move into a condo with her boyfriend, and has also applied to grad school at Cambridge. Matt's best friend, Barry (Dan Fogler, "Love Happens"), skipped college to work at a car dealership straight out of high school, and was just fired. Things are looking up for Matt, though: his high school crush, Tori Frederking (Teresa Palmer, "I Am Number Four"), is back in town, and he manages to talk to her when she wanders in to the video store one day. She invites him to a party that night, being hosted by Wendy's boyfriend, and he decides to go and try to finally ask her out. He goes to the party with his sister and Barry, and they have no idea what ends up being in store for them that night.
The movie was hilarious and had great '80s music throughout. It takes place in 1988, four years after the main characters have all graduated from high school, and it definitely feels like an '80s movie, but without all the "cheese." Topher Grace himself, in the Q&A, said that they wanted to make an '80s movie that felt like one of the classics, rather than a movie that would "make fun of '80s movies." The supporting cast is great as well - Michelle Trachtenberg (TV's "Gossip Girl") as an emo-type girl who Barry hits it off with; Michael Biehn ("Bereavement") as Matt's dad, who insists Matt does something with his life; and Chris Pratt (TV's "Parks and Recreation") as Wendy's obnoxious boyfriend, to name a few.
Yes, see this movie. I had watched both the regular and "red band" (R-rated) trailer before seeing the movie, and I was a little worried it would turn out to be another stupid "teen" movie, but it's really done well, with a lot of laughs throughout. Topher Grace actually helped write the film and produce it, and I hope to see more movies produced by him in the future, as this one was very good. The movie reminded me a lot of "The Hangover," but set in the '80s and condensed into one night. It definitely speaks to young people in my generation: those of us who have recently graduated from college and are wondering what to do with our lives. The film addresses this and more, but without going "over the top," and it is a movie, in my opinion, that anyone can enjoy.
"Take Me Home Tonight" will be in theaters on March 4th.
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Liz Parker is a 2009 graduate of the University of Michigan. She currently works as an Assistant Medical Editor for a pathology website. Visit her at her movie blog Yes/No Films
