Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Steven Kaplan | ... | Danny (as Steven J. Kaplan) | |
William H. Macy | ... | Ernie | |
Cheryl Hines | ... | Beth | |
Alia Shawkat | ... | Camille | |
Ashley Benson | ... | Alice | |
Brandon Hardesty | ... | Craig | |
Kate Micucci | ... | Abby | |
Jon Polito | ... | Bob | |
Jennifer Tilly | ... | Melinda | |
Dinah Manoff | ... | Mrs. Goodson | |
Michael Mantell | ... | Dr. Goodson | |
Chad Jamian | ... | Bart (as Chad Jamian Williams) | |
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Bambi la Fleur | ... | Destiny |
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Sam Azouz | ... | Uncle Walter |
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Betty Knowles | ... | Aunt Rose |
Danny Stein is a high-school senior and class vice president; he's in charge of the prom, along with Camille, his best friend for years. Everyone including Camille and her parents assumes that Danny will ask her to the prom, but he wants something less platonic and more romantic - more memorable. His choices include the sophomore cheerleader he drives to school, a friend of a friend, and a quiet Chinese girl in his classes. With his parents' help (they're going through a divorce), he gets the tickets, rents a tux, reserves a limo, and, over his mother's objections, gets a room at the prom-site hotel. This, everyone believes, is the way to establish memories. Will anything work out? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
I started off disliking 'Bart Got a Room' due to its painfully obvious set up, clichés and predictable storyline where you knew where this was going from the get-go. For the most part, it unfolded to where you thought so with just a hint of surprises. The idea behind the film, and hence the title, involves high schoolers scrambling to get a date and a "room" for prom night, since *Bart* got a room. Sure, when Bart's revealed in the room, they overshoot his nerd-factor, but the movie's clearly mean-spirited from all angles on a person that's different from the "norm." Again, they did dress up Bart as the stereotypical arrogant "Napoleon Dynamite," but it was a pretty harsh reality the parents were teaching their kids to be judgmental. Some segments were funny, I'll admit, but those few and far between scenes involved Macy (namely the woman running for her life and the older female with a housewarming gift.) And it was touching how down-on-his-own-bad-luck divorced father Macy would give up everything, including a date with poker-great Tilly, to aid his son's quest for a date. 'Bart' was a sweet, innocent movie (other than few scenes knocking down different people) and you could do worse, but there are far better high school comedies. Such as 'Election,' 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' and 'Juno.' You have to give kudos to the lead, Kaplan for trying to carry the movie, but not so much for the supporting case, like the overly clichéd "heavy-set" buddy, the pretty blonde cheerleader and the plain-Jane BFF that, shocking, should be his first pick for the prom. We've seen this plot dozens of times over, and one of my favorites was 'Some Kind of Wonderful.' Ironically, director Hecker, did seem to attempt (unsuccessfully) the heart of most Hughes movies.