Bart Got a Room

2008
5.7| 1h20m| R| en| More Info
Released: 25 April 2008 Released
Producted By: SHRINK Media Inc.
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Danny Stein, a high school senior at the bottom of the social food chain, needs a prom date. As a cause of anxiety for Danny, Bart Beeber, the nerdiest guy in school, has already found a date. At the same time, Danny's divorced parents are both looking for relationships again.

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Reviews

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
SnoopyStyle It's 2 months before prom and Danny Stein (Steven Kaplan) is running out of options. Even unpopular Bart Beeber got a date and a room. Danny is a nerd in charge of prom with his longtime friend Camille (Alia Shawkat). He doesn't want to ask Camille who he wants to be platonic with but everybody just expects it. He wants to ask hot sophomore cheerleader Alice (Ashley Benson) who he drives to school. His divorced parents Ernie (William H. Macy) and Beth (Cheryl Hines) are both out there dating.This is more sad and pathetic than funny. Kaplan isn't charming enough to lead this and bring out the humor. Alia Shawkat is charming enough and provides some of the best scenes. There are some great comic actors but the jokes aren't hitting. The story isn't anything new or special. Nothing is truly funny but it's a passable amateur effort from writer/director Brian Hecker.
Roland E. Zwick Written and directed by Brian Hecker, "Bart Got a Room" is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale set in south Florida where high school geek Danny Stein won't be in the demographic majority for another fifty years yet. A good Jewish boy, Danny is all excited about attending his senior prom - or at least he would be if he could get the hot sophomore he drives to school every day to agree to go as his date. Unfortunately, she thinks of him merely as an older-brother type, so Danny is forced to look elsewhere for options, including the Plain Jane Camille (Alia Shawkat), who's been his best friend since childhood and obviously wishes Danny felt about her the way she feels about him. Danny also has to contend with the fact that his soon-to-be-divorced parents (wonderfully played by William H. Macy and Cheryl Hines) are already in the market for future spouses and that they keep the understandably mortified youngster continually posted on their dating progress.Though in terms of plotting there's little that separates "Bart Got a Room" from countless other films in the same genre, the movie finds a wealth of truth and humor in its deadpan depictions of ordinary life. Bart and all the figures who inhabit his world go through their days just trying to make the best of bad situations, searching for that one little nugget of happiness that will make the crushing banality of the rest of their lives at least tolerable, if not worthwhile. For Danny, it's getting a date for the prom and meeting an attractive girl who will reciprocate his romantic interest; for his parents, it's trying to get that one last stab at coupled attachment in a world where youth is prized above all else and where they're faced with a daily reminder of what awaits them in their fast-approaching "golden years;" for Camille, it's trying to get the boy she's attracted to to see her as a burgeoning woman with sexual appetites and not just a platonic buddy to study and hang out with."Bart Got a Room" nicely captures the exaggerated nature of teenage trauma, when showing up dateless to the prom is a personal tragedy comparable only to the crash of the Hindenburg or the sinking of the Titanic. And Steve Kaplan perfectly conveys every bit of the angst Danny experiences as he maneuvers his way through those shark-infested waters known as adolescence.
filmguy450 A sweet, high school, screwball-lite with a great ending, and some enduring one liners, and a delightful William H Macy. The look of the film is litter with nice, small details that make the whole thing feel more real. The score is subtle, with a nice whimsical element to it. I was expecting a silly, maybe fun, raunch fest, but was glad to see I got something more real, touching, and delightful. The ending, at the prom, detouring into a bar mitzvah is adorable, with a great voice over from the lead, who plays slightly pathetic underdog well. When Macy buys a hooker for Bart to take to the prom, it's funny as hell. All in all, all sorts of fun.
Kevin-94 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.