By Erik Luna
Alumni of “That 70’s Show,” Topher Grace, Eric Foreman, and writers Jackie and Jeff Filgo team up once again to deliver laughter in “Take Me Home Tonight.”
The movie is an ode to the 80’s and takes place approximately around 1988.
Grace stars as the lead character, Matt Franklin, an MIT graduate who works at Suncoast videos.
As he sees his high school crush, Tori Frederking played by Teresa Palmer, he begins to obsess on old memories and decides to talk to her as she enters his workplace.
Once Matt strikes up a conversation with her, he begins to lie about his career and what he has been doing since high school graduation.
Then the night takes off with wild and crazy antics.
Matt’s best friend, Barry Nathan, is played by Dan Fogler.
Barry provides most of the comedic relief in the movie.
As the movie progresses, Barry loses his job as a car salesman which sends him in a downward spiral.
Barry steals a car, snorts cocaine for the first time and has sex with strangers which provides more than his fair share of laughs.
Although this movie is a comedy, it has its fair share of drama as Matt’s sister, Wendy, played by Anna Faris, deals with getting rejected from Cambridge University and a suffocating fiance.
Though the movie has a lot of references to drugs, the drugs themselves are not the main topic of the movie.
Instead, the movie focuses on the relationships between the cast members, whether it be with Barry, Tori or Wendy.
This aspect made it a good movie.
Palmer, who looks highly similar to Kristen Stewart of “Twilight,” is able to hang with the top stars of the movie and then some.
There is good dialogue throughout the movie, which eliminates most of the need for crude humor, but it does not eliminate it entirely.
A bathroom scene with Barry is a perfect example of crude humor, but it is done in a hilarious way.
Grace not only starred in the movie but wrote parts of it along with writers Jackie and Jeff Filgo, who wrote many episodes for “That 70’s Show” throughout the series.
One of the best features of the movie is the soundtrack.
Fanatics of 80’s music will fall in love with the movie just for its tasteful placement of hit songs.
The title of the movie itself is a reference to an 80s song “Can’t Hold Back.”
The movie takes place in the span of one night, but as the tag-line said, it was the “Best night ever.”
“Take Me Home Tonight” runs for one hour and fifty-four minutes.
It is rated R for sexual content, profanity, and drug use.