Bart Got a Room

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.

Just tripped over this movie on cable without ever having heard anything about it before, and when I came across it, the direction and music reminded me so much of Barry Sonnenfeld's direction I thought it -had- to be something of his I had never seen before (and I'm a big Sonnenfeld fan, esp of titles like "Get Shorty" and "Big Trouble" - the unfortunately timed release which had to be delayed due to 9/11. But watch "Bart..." and then watch "Big Trouble" and you'll see the similarities in style).

"Bart..." had some thin plot lines here and there, but the overall production was crisp and mostly entertaining. The pace was mostly quick, although there were one or two places it seemed to stall; but overall the use of wide and interesting camera angles, quick cuts, and, again, the snappy music selections (which were not main stream) kept everything moving despite what you'd think of as a fairly shallow overall plot.

Another quirky but all-too-human Bill Macy performance juxtaposed against our star Steven Kaplan who plays the focus of the date-hunt. That was good casting. Jennifer Tilly has a little bit part which you're dying to see go somewhere - but when it doesn't, it reinforces the kind of loser-status-but-we-protect-our-own flavor of dad Ernie Stein (Bill Macy).

Production wise: better than most. Quirky, fun, not heavy, but has a nice message overall. Fun to see once or twice.

Director Brian Hecker as the new Sonnenfeld? We'll have to wait and see. Big shoes to fill.

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.

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.

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.