We the Party
Directed by Mario Van Peebles
Arc Entertainment
If there was a film equivalent of a badly autotuned top 40 song, “We the Party” would definitely be it, complete with a guest appearance by Snoop Dogg himself.
If there were some redeeming qualities in the film, though, it would be the accurate portrayal of high school youth in Mario Van Peebles’ film, right down to the superfluous neon wardrobe and obsession with money and pool sex.
The film centers around unmotivated high school student Hendrix Sutton (Mandela Van Peebles) who only has money, girls and partying on his mind, though strict disciplinarian father and teacher Mr. Sutton (Mario Van Peebles) would rather have him focus on school instead.
Hendrix and his ragtag entourage of friends complete the circle of high school cliches. There’s the skater boy Que (Ryan Vigil), sassy runt of the group Quicktime (Moises Arias), overachieving future presidential candidate dubbed “Obama” (Makaylo Van Peebles) and horny chubster Chowder (Patrick Cage II). They make a contest to lose their respective virginities first, which proves problematic since they’re all talk and little action.
Hendrix is smitten by studious and popular senior Cheyenne (Simone Battle), who becomes his tutor after he is put on a list in danger of being held back a grade. In return, he helps her with a school project while getting to be her date for the upcoming prom. And that’s where the pool sex comes in.
That isn’t the only central plot of the film; the problem with the film is that it has too many plots going on. In another corner, troubled high schooler Cece (Y.G.) struggles to balance his passion for rapping and his life on the streets, dominated by Snoop Dogg. Then there’s another plot straight out of a young adult novel that could possibly be titled “The Case of the Missing Prom Ticket Money.”
With as many as three scenes going on in one frame, this film gets unnecessarily complicated and long. Nearly two hours long, a plot or two could be entirely taken out and forgotten, and the film wouldn’t miss it.
The focus on meaningful close-ups of Hendrix’s eyes as he is leering at Cheyenne is a riot. With background music distracting from the actual dialogue in almost every scene in the movie, the film runs on flash rather than meaningful plot. Likewise, the central message of “education is power” throughout the film is a little obvious and trite, but serves to tone down the hormonally charged plots within the film.
This isn’t to say that the film can’t be enjoyed. The unintentional and intentional comedy of it all is what makes the film easy to watch on a lazy day at home. This film is a Forever 21 crop top of a movie that won’t stand the test of time, but nonetheless is a trendy if not hilarious take on youth culture today.