Directed by: Michael Dowse
Starring: Topher Grace. Anna Faris, Dan Fogler, Teresa Palmer
Distributed by: Rogue Pictures
Rated R
Running Time: 97 minutes
Our Score: 3 out of 5 stars
I am picky when it comes to comedies. Some comedies try a bit to hard to be funny, and yet deliver a moral or positive “message”. “Take Me Home Tonight” is no different in this regard. This movie has Topher Grace playing the role of Matt Franklin, a life lost MIT student that isn’t ready to move into Adulthood. He sees his high school crush Tori, played by Teresa Palmer, that he attempts to impress through lies and deceit. Said lies lead to a zany night of humorous fun and adventure for him, his best friend Barry, played by Dan Fogler, and his sister Wendy, played by Anna Faris.
It is a nice nostalgic romp into the 80′s, playing homage to that period’s cadre of similar movies. They were good to keep the clothes, hair styles, and cars to date for the period time piece. It is at times funny, but it is not a comedy that is really to my tastes. It feels at times to try a bit too hard to emulate the 80′s movies for which it honors. The characters are all well played and the skits are funny, for the most part. It is worth watching if anything for its 80′s flashback moments for those of us old enough to remember. For those that are not, well, its funny enough to enjoy and think “man, did they do that back then?”
