A classic 80's movie... if it was filmed 25 years ago.
Take Me Home Tonight is a salute to the look and feel of every Brat Pack 80's movies that are just as loved now as they were 20+ years ago. To ad lib my favorite movie of all time, this movie has everything; 80's music, gorgeous women, lies, lies to cover other lies, drugs, sex, grand theft auto, dance-offs, sarcasm, trampolines, getting arrested, drinking, that guy who takes his guitar to the party, way too many popped collar polos, someone inside a huge metal ball as it rolls down a hill, true love, everything.
Topher Grace stars as Matt Franklin, brainiac MIT graduate who moves back home and instead of progressing his career, he decides to just work at Suncoast Video until he knows what to do with the rest of his life. Anna Faris plays his fraternal twin sister, Wendy. Dan Fogler plays Matt's best friend Barry. Matt finds out that his high school crush, Tori Fredericking (Teresa Palmer) and decides that this nights Labor Day party might finally be his "in" with her that he has been looking for since he saw her. Their first conversation he lies to her and tells her he works at Goldman Sachs. That lie gets the ball rolling with more lies that make him spiral hard and fast into some deep water that he won't get out of safely. The chemistry between Topher Grace and Teresa Palmer was not only believable but seemed very heartfelt. It had a true sense of a guy getting to know a girl he has idolized for a long time. He realizes she isn't the goddess he has made her out to be, and likes her even more for it. I was impressed with the sibling chemistry between Topher and Anna Faris. There were some cheesy "twin" moments between the two of them, but the one scene that I enjoyed the most was their conversation after the marriage proposal. In this scene Matt is at a complete standstill in his life, while Wendy has already planned on moving in with her douche boyfriend (Chris Pratt) and now is engaged to him. Matt warns Wendy she is making a huge mistake and she needs to get out of this stupid decision she has made and be honest with her boyfriend. Wendy comes back with a few words saying how at least she is making decisions and he is the last person to talk to her about honesty. This seemed to be one of the most heartfelt and on point scenes of the movie. Dan Fogler steals the show as the "chubby" best friend, who lost his job as a car salesman on that same day. He seemed to be a depressing character at first but shines once he finds a bag of cocaine in the car they steal. Fogler does a great job with this Barry. I've always seen him as a fat actor who is taking all the roles that Jack Black is either too old for or turned down. While this character is no different, I had a sense that Mr. Black couldn't have done any better than Dan Fogler did.
The moral of this movie (because as an 80's coming of age movie, you have to have a moral) is that you have to take a shot in life. Even if you don't know where to aim, just start shooting. Though I wouldn't rank it higher than the other iconic 80's movies like The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and Pretty in Pink, it's not that far behind. I would encourage to give this movie a shot and at the very least allow yourself to sink back into the good ole days of 1988.
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