'The Binge' Review: The same old run-of-the-mill buddy film about hormonal teenagers and friendship
If you had a good time watching 'The Purge' and thought there was something original about 'The Binge', well you couldn't be more wrong. Gear up for another film with a trite buddy formula and lead characters with such transparency, you can start predicting the dialogues yourself. The premise is fun, no doubt: We visit an alternate America where drugs and alcohol are considered illegal, except for twelve hours a year.
The execution is sloppy and is as sober as the numerous parties and intoxicated teenagers we are constantly forced to watch on screen. Say hello to the two lead characters: Hag, the guy who has obsessively raging hormones played by Dexter Darden, and shy guy Griffin (Skyler Gisondo) who has had a crush on class topper Lena for ages but has done nothing about it.
She's an overachiever, who is excited at the chance of a mysterious admirer slipping notes into her locker. But that's as far as her character goes. Her father is the rather inappropriate President Carlsen, played by Vince Vaughn, who actually does make the comedy look a trifle less stale. Griffin has one goal in life that he bleats throughout the film so you really can't forget: He wants to ask Lena to prom and Binge Night is the only option he sees.
Hag, his best friend, is determined to make his wish come true, as well as his own — which is to win the epic Gauntlet on the Binge Night. He wants the two of them to be legends as he reminds us quite often throughout the film.
Of course, you can't have a film without the signature weirdo, and voila... long-haired Andrew (Eduardo Franco) appears. He has a half-twin brother named Seb, who is a gangster, and the trio get involved with him and his deadly little gang. But that's just the first of many mortifying obstacles and the beginning of the wild ride, that is literally, this film.
So, please take your brain out and keep it carefully next to you, while you watch our unlikely heroes consume numerous drugs, unlimited alcohol, almost run down a cow, sing in a musical, evade gangsters, and....finally realize the meaning of true friendship and brotherhood. You know, that old chestnut.
Is it worth a watch? Well, to be honest, some scenes are downright hilarious, especially the entire musical, that is actually quite catchy. President Carlsen walking to a party of hormonal ladies might get a smirk or two from you. At that point, there is nothing new to expect and the film is just about ensuring that it scores a couple of laughs with the audience and a few cheap ones at that.
There's no underlying message — just to be clear. This film isn't any warning about the dangers of excessive consumption of drugs and alcohol among teenagers. It's well within the over-familiar territory of raunchy comedies and knows just which members of the target audience to please. The elements of such comedies are the same — awkward schoolboys prattling on about how they want to lose their virginities and an excess of substance abuse and alcohol.
We've seen more than enough of such comedies, and clearly, there's a viewership that caters to it, so it is not going to stop. Well, it's as if the filmmakers expect you to not be sober when watching this inebriated fest, so might as well give it a watch to laugh... a little. It's streaming on Hulu, folks. Knock yourself out silly.