Very disappointing...

Simply Perfect

Powerful

Don't listen to the negative reviews

I first heard about this movie when Brandon Hardesty announced he had a role in it on his YouTube channel. I waited patiently for it to be released on DVD, since it never played in theaters in my town I completely forgot about it until I saw a copy of it at Blockbuster. I immediately grabbed it, bought it, took it home, and watched it. Right off the bat, it was funny and entertaining. Steven Kaplan does a great job playing Danny, a high-schooler who has everything set for his big prom - except the girl. The majority of the film is him trying to find the perfect girl in the huge high-school environment. His divorced parents, wonderfully portrayed by William H. Macy and Cheryl Hines add lots of humor to the film, such as his dad's advice and tips to help Danny find the perfect girl. Alia Shawkat plays Danny's best friend, who was expecting him to take her to the prom, only to be disappointed that he wants to find different girl. Sure, some of the scenes may be slightly predictable, but still, this is a very funny and touching teen comedy that a bunch of people can relate to.

Looking back at this film, there are quite a number of scenes that seem as if they, and the movie that they are in, should be superb. Actually watching the scenes, and watching the film as a whole however, the effect is rather lackluster. Objectively, I can't say that the movie is a bad one, and some people will probably love, it, but for many or most people, I suspect that the film will not live up to its potential. Its difficult to say exactly why, but I can nominate three potential reasons.1.Comparative lack of comedic follow-through. In many comedic scenes in film, you can see an embarrassing situation emerging a few seconds or minutes before the specific situation ends. Rather than playing each scene through from beginning to bitter end, 'Bart Got A Room" tends to lay out the scene, and clip off the last uncomfortable moments. This device does not render the scenes unfunny, and it could make the film a bit more subtle. "Bart Got A Room" is not the most exciting or unpredictable film however, and the closely trimmed scene endings make the movie more boring.2.A vast proportion of the world's humor comes from people and the world as a whole not living up to expectations. Much humor represents an idealistic implicit criticism of these failures and imperfections.The creators of this film seem to embrace, rather than criticize imperfection however, particularly in the ending, and not so much by defiantly embracing an alternate standard of perfection, but by saying that "hey, settling for ______ is okay." Obviously the difference between different sorts of acceptance (of imperfection) are subtle, but but this film seems to be more "settle for it" than usual, and the implicit lack of idealism leads to less ideal-driven humorous criticism.3.This film has a very clear Florida setting and cultural identity, and ordinarily this would be a strict virtue, adding a bit of realism instead of pretending to a placeless universality. Unfortunately, the film is so subtle/dull overall, that the setting and specific characterization overwhelms the overall story and other elements to a degree. Most likely the filmmakers should have made the story and characters a bit more interesting, rather than make the background less interesting, but something should have been done.

When the people behind "Bart Got A Room" call it a film about a guy looking for a date for the prom, they mean just that. There's no emotional subtext whatsoever to this search. Why is it so important to him, and why should we care? Danny is such a blank slate, and the writing doesn't offer many insights into who he is as a person. Compare Danny in your mind with more interesting movie teenagers, like Max from "Rushmore" or Harold from "Harold and Maude," and you'll see what I mean. And the actor playing Danny does little to illuminate that he has any kind of inner life at all.Danny's parents are equally bland and uninteresting. The only truly insightful moment occurs when one of Danny's friends discussing going to the zoo with his mother. (The mother, a divorced woman, hates going to the zoo but is desperately trying to please her new boyfriend.) What is the film even about? Is it about the close friendship between Danny and Camille? But even after the hot girl turns him down, he decides to keep shopping around, rather than turn to Camille, which she herself acknowledges. The film doesn't provide any real scenes to establish the bond they share. (Sorry. Showing old photos of them as children and having narration isn't enough.) I thought the film might be about a boy choosing not to cross over the threshold from childhood to adulthood. Children like to have fun, play with their friends and bond with their parents. Young adults want to carve our their own identities, be independent, distance themselves from their parents and explore their sexuality. So which side does Danny ultimately fall down on – youth or maturity? The film (SPOILERS!) explains at the end that he chose to spend his prom night not with his peers but with his parents and his platonic friend. It further explains that the hotel room, that presumed symbol of sexual maturity, was used instead to play Boggle, a children's game, with his parents and platonic childhood friend.But then, that youth vs. maturity interpretation doesn't really work either. So many different directions the film could have gone in, and yet, in the end, the filmmakers never really chose a path.

If Bart got a hotel room, then Danny should have one too. Danny is your typical unpopular high school senior and he's searching for a prom date. The bar has been set by not-seen-'til-the-end Bart, the class nerd, with the booking of hotel rooms, limousines, etc. Cute and studious Camille (played by Alia Shawkat from Arrested Development, a comedy I adore) has been friends with Danny for a long time and the easy thing for them to do would be to attend prom together, but that doesn't happen of course. I became frustrated with Danny's attempts to get other girls to be his date, but I also related to him – as easy as Camille would be to fall back on, at his age I'd likely want something new (perhaps even sexier) too. This is what teenagers do.William Macy, who plays Danny's father, is one of the few bright spots. Most of the characters are pretty bland, but Macy manages to shine despite the surroundings. I really don't like the haircut he has there, but that's part of the cheap role I guess. His best moments are when he drops everything to help find a date for his son as the prom draws near. He even leaves a sexually-heated date of his own behind! Bart Got A Room is your typical high school movie, but not exactly A-list. It has its moments (my personal favorite takes place in the ice cream shop) but this type of movie has been done before, and better too.