Bart Got a Room (2008)

While Danny's father and mother independently search for love, Danny is on his own desperate quest to find a prom date. Danny's search becomes progressively more pathetic once he and his family learn that Bart, the school's biggest dweeb, not only secured a date for the prom, but got a hotel room as well.

Director:

Brian Hecker

Writer:

Brian Hecker

Stars:

Steven Kaplan, William H. Macy, Cheryl Hines

1 win.

Cast

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)
Bambi la Fleur	...	Destiny
Sam Azouz	...	Uncle Walter
Betty Knowles	...	Aunt Rose

Storyline

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?

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Plot Keywords:

prom | best friend | masturbation | voice over narration | teenage boy | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexual content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hotelszoba, letolt gatya

Filming Locations:

Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$32,764, 5 April 2009, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$53,760, 19 April 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Basra Entertainment, Plum Pictures, SHRINK Media Inc.

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chad Jamian Williams played Bart.

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Goofs

When the main character is driving the cheerleader home in the beginning, his car starts to die while going down the road. In the shot of the speedometer you can clearly see that the car is in park.

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Crazy Credits

After the credits, there's a picture of Bart throwing up into a toilet.

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Connections

References Sesame Street (1969)

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Soundtracks

Caro Nome
Written by Giuseppe Verdi
Courtesy of Extreme Production Music

User Reviews

Tries to be quirky but doesn't quite succeed

A modest little independent comedy that would like to be quirky but doesn't quite know how to be, Bart's Got a Room isn't about Bart at all – although he does make a couple of brief appearances. The fact he has got a room (for the school prom) is used as a benchmark against which our young hero Danny can measure how badly he has failed in his attempts to get a date for that bizarre American ritual called prom night. Of course, as an aside, it's true that inappropriately extravagant prom nights are no longer an exclusively American custom: having adopted the 'extortion with threats' routine known as Trick or Treat, the 350-channel TV (342 of which you will never watch), and the 'no win-no fee' legal representation when our own stupidity causes us to injure ourselves while at work, the Americanisation of Britain continues apace with our school-kids now dressing up and hiring rented limousines for their 'school leaver's disco.' I am absolutely certain that before my life is over Britain will be celebrating every fourth of July.

Anyway, Danny has had a loyal friend for ten years who just happens to be a pleasant – but not spectacularly beautiful or popular – girl who would love him to ask her to the prom. He also has a mother who is on the verge of marrying a decent but unsuitable man and a father who is desperately seeking love on the internet. Now, given this template it isn't difficult to figure out how this film is going to end. That doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing though, as long as the journey to that predictable conclusion is an original and entertaining one. Sadly, Bart's Got a Room is only partially successful. Many of the incidents here have been seen countless times before (although usually handled with less sensitivity). The film seeks to make points about the futility and self-defeating nature of trying too hard to find the perfect mate, and it does this in a straightforward manner, but it's a message that most of us innately understand from youth, anyway – and those that don't are usually still struggling to find that perfect one thirty years after their prom date and will never listen to messages like this. While there's nothing wrong with preaching the message, it's hardly an earth-shattering revelation, and you can't help thinking that surely the filmmakers could find something a little more insightful to build a film around.

The performances are pretty good. William Macy stands out (as usual) as our hero's father who, sporting a perm from hell, strives to find a perfect mate while refusing to accept that, just maybe, he used to be married to her. Jon Polito is also good as mum's new beau, striking just the right level of likability for the role. The film's running time is fairly brief and it has its moments, but the end result doesn't measure up to its potential.