21 and OverMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 34 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

Iffy for 16+

Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

75

San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub
Writer-directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore find a nice balance between the over-the-top high jinks and an emotional core, which unexpectedly crystallizes relatively late in the movie. Read full review
63

Movie Nation | Roger Moore
The bottom-line on this bottom-baring/bottom-branding farce is “Is it funny, on top of all the shocks?” And yes, it is. On a number of few occasions, all of them involving Jeff Chang. Read full review
60

The Hollywood Reporter | Todd McCarthy
This paean to youthful irresponsibility applies the right crude and rude 'tude to its bulging sack of gags to have the desired effect on its target audience. Read full review
50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) | Rick Groen
Certainty, then, is the watchword, and you can be certain of three things: There will be plenty of juvenile energy to power the vehicle; there will be a few mild chuckles en route; there will be no reason to remember the ride the instant it ends. Read full review
38

Boston Globe | Tom Russo
Among the ingredients “21” is missing: the infectiously random silliness of a Zach Galifianakis, the smug hunkiness of a Bradley Cooper, and any sort of Vegas-y gloss whatsoever. Read full review
38

USA Today | Claudia Puig
Despite its collegiate setting, 21 and Over is pretty much for people with an IQ of 21 and under. Read full review
38

Chicago Sun-Times |
This is one of those 93-minute movies that seem about 88 minutes too long. Or not worth making in the first place. Read full review
20

New York Daily News | Elizabeth Weitzman
How ironic (depressing? predictable?) that the week after we celebrate the best in movies, we are force-fed its very worst. 21 & Over is filmmaking by formula, and evidence of Hollywood’s assumption that appealing to viewers’ basest instincts will always pay off. Read full review
12

Slant Magazine | Andrew Schenker
By the dictates of the boys-will-be-boys party genre, 21 and Over is so tame that it barely manages to even be offensive. Read full review
12

New York Post | Kyle Smith
Just because your comedy is dumb doesn’t mean it’s funny. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for 21 and Over on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Raunchy buddy comedy is all about getting wasted.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that 21 and Over was written and directed by the same team that wrote The Hangover and features the same type of raunchy humor, if perhaps at not quite the same level of excess (though it's plenty over the top!). The comedy follows three friends through a single night of debauchery as they celebrate a 21st birthday, a momentous event that they believe should be celebrated by getting as wasted as possible. They drink at parties, they drink at bars, they even drink in a taxi. Then they drink some more, until one of them is completely passed out. There's a string of misadventures, a few fights, and some sexual harassment -- plus near-nonstop profanity ("f--k," "s--t" and much more), people smoking pot at a party, and a few brief glimpses of topless women and almost-nude men seen from behind. Men make out in one scene.

Families can talk about how the movie portrays drinking. Is it glamorized? Are any of the consequences realistic? What message does that send?
Parents may also want to put an over-the-top comedy like this in perspective. The movie's antics come at you fast and furiously, making some of the laughs mostly about the shock value. What other movies and TV shows have a similar comedy style? What's the appeal of this kind of humor?
Talk about the friendships at the heart of the movie. Do they feel real? Do these guys actually care for each other?

The good stuff

Positive messages: In the process of reuniting to celebrate a 21st birthday, three formerly close friends rekindle their friendship. Though their antics are juvenile -- and many of their actions, especially when it comes to excessive drinking, flat-out irresponsible -- their feelings are heartfelt. Jokes rely on sexism and stereotypes for laughs.
Positive role models: Miller and Casey are devoted to Jeff and struggle to get him safely home after a wild night. But they're also poor influences who induce Jeff to go out drinking the night before an important medical school interview. They also glorify drinking to excess, insisting that it's their duty to get as wasted as possible when one of their number turns 21.

What to watch for

Violence: Several people get into a barroom brawl, throwing both punches and stools. They later go at it again, with one man using a baseball bat to destroy several household objects. A woman uses self-defense techniques, including a knee to the groin, to subdue a man. Two almost-nude men are subjected to ritual violence, including being spanked with a paddle. They later wrestle each other, still almost completely naked. A buffalo charges through a crowd, butting several people.
Sexy stuff: Many, many crude sexual references, though little actual physical contact. A guy and a girl flirt with each other all through the film and eventually kiss. A guy drinks shots that are tucked between breasts and placed on navels. A few brief flashes of topless women, and several longer scenes feature almost-nude men seen from behind. Two men walk around wearing nothing but socks on their penises; they also make out. A stuffed animal is shown glued to a man's genitals.
Language: Near-constant swearing includes just about every crude word imaginable. "F--k," "s--t," "p---y," "ass," "bitch," "t-ts," "d--kwad," "c--klicker," "goddamn," "oh my God," "douche-bag," and many more. Almost every sentence involves profanity.
Consumerism: Some characters drink Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Other labels/brands seen include Budweiser, Bud Light, and Soundgarden.
Drinking, drugs and smoking: The characters spend an entire debauched night getting more and more wasted, with many sequences of people drinking beer, shots, more beer, playing drinking games, slurping liquor off of women's bodies, sucking straight from a keg tap, and drinking some more. A few scenes feature people smoking pot, and one character mentions that he spent an entire night dancing after taking LSD.

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