The original House Party is one of those classic movies where if you haven’t seen it, you’ve probably at least heard of it. It’s also not surprising that it’d get the ol’ updated reboot/remake treatment as it does seem like a foolproof movie to do so with. I mean, how can you really mess up the story of two best friends who throw a house party that leads to a night so crazy that they’ll never forget it? It’s pretty simple to at least hit the proper plot points with a reboot, while the real work is making it entertaining, funny and memorable. Unfortunately, screenwriters Jamal Olori and Stephen Glover put on a “what not to do” clinic in this 2023 House Party release, which will only be memorable for being so incredibly forgettable.
The film stars Jacob Latimore and Tosin Cole as best friends Kevin and Damon, though it does a horrible job of showcasing this friendship, or any real characters in general. Kevin is supposed to be the good one of the two, I suppose, as he’s got a daughter who he’ll lose joint custody of if he doesn’t make $10,000 by the end of the month. His parents are retiring so he has to find his own place to live as they’re selling the house, and if he doesn’t get the money and get his daughter into a good pre-school then his ex will file for full custody. Oh, and he also wants to make music, as we hear him making a mix with his daughter at the start of the movie. I guess we’re supposed to think it’s good and that he just needs to catch a break, but – while it might just not be my taste – it sounds horrible, and I’m not really sure what audience it’d appeal to.
Damon is supposed to be the slacker of the two, as he wants to be a club promoter but is accused by his aunt who he lives with rent free (she wants him to pay, he’s just broke) of simply going out clubbing all the time. Kevin’s lifetime friend Venus (Karen Obilom) got them both a job at her dad’s cleaning agency, though when they’re both caught on camera smoking weed from a previous job Venus tells Kevin that they’re going to be fired after they finish their last shift. That last shift just happens to be in the mansion of Lebron James, which gives Damon the idea to throw a massive house party there so that he can get recognition as a big promoter and Kevin can get the money he needs to send his daughter to school.
Now Kevin is supposed to be starting a new IT job in two months and is worried about going to jail, but he needs the money now so he agrees because Damon says they’ll clean up afterwards. That’s all the persuasion it took, even though he’s got a new job already lined up, and I’m not really sure where he expected to make $10,000 if he was just working his cleaning shift for the next two months, but we have to move the plot along somehow.
That’s one of the big issues though, as everything feels forced and nothing organically happens. This not being a teen comedy is fine, even though that’s an ideal time for a scenario like this to be playing out; but you can still salvage this type of story and make it work, they just never do. The characters aren’t relatable at all, and they don’t really have any redeeming characteristics. They’re all paper thin, and Kevin is supposed to be the heart of the film in terms of the guy you want to see succeed, but there’s never a point where you care. The idea that he’s doing everything for his daughter, yet gets high while at work and is fired because of it doesn’t really scream ideal father figure and protagonist.
The underlying theme of sticking to your dreams and things will happen for you is as forced as everything else, as the movie never feels like it has any real stakes. The house party itself is incredibly bland, and their theory of inviting Lebron’s celebrity friends while pretending to be his assistants so they can charge them more to come to the party is already bizarre, as are we expected to believe that if Lebron through a party he’d charge his guests to come? Even if we ignore that and pretend that it happens, the party feels like it’s happening in this small living room and front hallway and that’s about it. It’s apparently filmed at Lebron’s actual mansion, but there are supposed to be hundreds of people at this party, yet it feels like we only see a few dozen and they’re always incredibly quiet and well-behaved. It’s just a boring house party happening in a movie called house party, which is never a good sign.
The pacing is also abysmal. The film is an hour and forty minutes in length but just has zero sense of urgency and misfires on pretty much every joke. Does it have a few moments that are chuckle-worthy? Sure, but a broken watch is also right twice a day. I haven’t even touched on how ludicrous the movie gets heading into its second half as it tries to make this an actual wild night. I’ll just say that Kevin and Damon have to go to a party thrown by the Illuminati and no matter what absolutely bonkers idea I wrote here it wouldn’t come close to what actually happens in this movie that at least felt like it was supposed to be based in some sort of reality.
That’s not an endorsement for you to watch House Party and find out for yourself what happens, it’s just highlighting how it feels like the writers were halfway done the script on a Wednesday and found out the remainder was due on Friday so they just wrote anything that would wrap up the story with zero consequence and no lessons to be learned. I don’t think this is a case where “Hollywood has run out of ideas,” as I actually hate that saying. There are loads of wonderful and terrible unique movies released every year, so throwing in one or two reboots in order to bring some classic tales to modern times is completely fine. That said, if you’re going to do so then at least attempt to make a movie that’s entertaining and worthwhile and not something that lacks both character and substance while simply banking off the title of a known classic in order to bring in audiences.
DVD Video and Audio Review
The Dolby Digital transfer for the video looks good for those who like to focus on DVDs. While not as clean as its Blu-ray counterpart, there’s still no crazy distortion or muddy blacks that will distract you while watching the movie. On the audio side of things the dialogue is nice and clear and the soundtrack comes through nice and boomy as well.
Special Features:
There are no special features to be found on the DVD release.
Disclaimer: A review copy of this Blu-ray was sent to me to cover in honest and truthful fashion.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents House Party. Directed by: Calmatic. Written by: Jamal Olori, Stephen Glover. Starring: Jacob Latimore, Tosin Cole, Karen Obilom. Running time: 100 Minutes. Rating: 14A. Released on DVD: Feb. 14, 2022.
