Except for getting that Eddie Money song stuck in your head, “Take Me Home Tonight” doesn’t commit any egregious offenses.
Set, for no discernible reason, in 1988, it’s a simple, all-in-one-night youth comedy much like the ones they made in the actual ’80s. In the John Cusack role is Topher Grace as a recent MIT graduate who’s working at Suncoast Video and waiting for his life to begin. After bumping into an old crush (Teresa Palmer) who actually has a career in the financial industry, he and his raucous sidekick (Dan Fogler) join her at a wild party that feels like high school all over again. (Why are all their high school friends at this party four years later? Does everyone still live nearby? Have none of them gone anywhere?)
Though it’s formulaic and derivative and pales in comparison to other recent R-rated comedies, the film does find a handful of solid laughs in its bacchanalian adventures, and Grace and Palmer are cute together. Dan Fogler, who is normally supremely irritating (“Good Luck Chuck,” “Balls of Fury”), is even kind of funny. You’ll leave the theater mildly entertained and not too sleepy.
Note: The very funny Anna Faris is underused as Grace’s twin sister, and Chris Pratt (from “Parks and Recreation”), also very funny, is likewise underused as her boyfriend.
C+ (1 hr., 37 min.; )
