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With its huge perms, peppy ’80s soundtrack and wild coke-fuelled parties, this comedy has all the ingredients for a riotous nostalgia-fest, It’s a shame, then, that it isn’t particularly funny.
Topher Grace stars as Matt Franklin, a bright but aimless graduate working in a video shop who’s still hankering after high-school crush Tori (Teresa Palmer). Claiming to be a successful financier, he aims to woo Tori over the course of one eventful night, following her to several boozy parties. Meanwhile we’re waiting for his big lie to catch up with him. Both Grace and Palmer are charming but their courtship’s fairly dull. She’s a perfectly coiffed image of perfection who lacks the comic edge of the sidekicks who occasionally stagger into view. Dan Fogler steals most of the gags as Matt’s car-stealing, coke-snorting mate but many of his scenes still feel strained. Meanwhile Anna Faris, her looks and comic skills are perplexingly underused in her role as Matt’s twin sister. It’s an amiable but slow slice of nostalgia: think ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ meets ‘Superbad’ – without the big laughs.