Take Me Home Tonight – movie review

In 1988, I was five years old, and I was jealous of everyone older than me because I knew they were having more fun than I was. Take Me Home Tonight not only proved my theory, but was also one of the most epic movies I have seen in a while.

The context of the movie has made it clear that everyone had a plan for Matt Franklin based on something that he was naturally good at, and they tried to force him to be someone he didn’t want to be.  This made Matt shut down. His high school crush Tori Fredericking walking into the Suncoast Video turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to him. Even though he lied about his job, for the one night Matt got to be himself. It was also a big night for Matt’s best friend Barry, who had just lost the job he gave up going to college for, and he wants to make up for the experiences he never had; and for Matt’s twin sister Wendy, who received a letter from the Cambridge graduate program that she’s afraid to open, and her long-time boyfriend Kyle proposed to her. The movie also has an awesome soundtrack. It starts with “Video Killed the Radio Star” and maintains a soundtrack that would make an ultimate 80s mix tape.

My favorite scene in the movie is when Matt and Tori go to a Beverly Hills party that’s being hosted by her boss, who is sexually interested in her. One of Matt’s high school friends, Carlos, who knows that Matt is lying about his job at Goldman-Sachs because he works there, also happens to be at the party, and after messing with Matt decides to back up his lie. This impresses Tori’s boss, so Matt uses the opportunity to bring up a fake sexual harassment suit at Goldman-Sachs to get him to stop sexually harassing Tori, and it works. It was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen a liar do with his power, and it made the fact that Matt had lied to Tori seem less extreme.

I absolutely loved Topher Grace as Matt Franklin. This is horrible to say, but I had forgotten that he was a good actor. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him in a movie I liked. However, he was awesome in this role. It was easy to feel the fact that Matt felt lost, and all he needed was an opportunity or some inspiration to get him out of his funk. This one night had Matt hanging out with his high school crush, driving a stolen convertible, getting arrested, and doing so much more for someone who’s afraid he’ll never accomplish anything. Matt’s journey is absolutely fun to watch.

This journey is even more fun to watch because he’s accompanied by his best friend, Barry Nathan, played by Dan Fogler. Barry never went to college because he had a job, and he lost that job at the beginning of the movie, so he wants to make up for the college experiences he never had, but he takes them to new extremes. He steals a car from his dealership, does the cocaine he finds in the glove compartment of said stolen vehicle, and gets into various sexual exploits. Dan Fogler and Topher Grace had great onscreen chemistry, and they’re believable as best friends. Fogler also had good chemistry with Michelle Trachtenberg, who plays a Goth girl named Ashley that Barry impresses early in the night.

Anna Faris plays Matt’s twin sister, Wendy. Wendy is portrayed as having her life more together than her brother. She and her long-time boyfriend Kyle are moving into a condo together, and Kyle proposes, and she says yes. Matt points out, however, she’s actually not as sure of her life as she seems, because she applied to graduate school at Cambridge but is too afraid to even open the envelope to find out if she got in. Wendy’s journey involves her discovering whether or not the life she has is the one she wants. Anna Faris and Topher Grace made me believe they could be siblings with the way they bickered but still obviously cared about the best interest of the other.

Teresa Palmer plays Tori Fredericking, Matt’s high school crush. Tori portrays herself as being happy with her job and her life, but one night with Matt and she confesses that she has no idea what she’s doing, and we learn that she’s not that different from Matt. When Matt confesses to Tori that he lied and she refuses to talk to him, I don’t like her as much because she doesn’t understand that he only lied about his job and not who he was, and he did use his lying to save her from her sexually harassing boss. However, she does eventually come to her senses and agrees to go out on a date with Matt. Palmer has great chemistry with Topher Grace, and we hope for the entire movie that they’ll stay together.

Besides having a great main cast, Take Me Home Tonight has a great supporting cast. Demetri Martin plays Carlos, a friend Matt went to high school with who was hit by a drunk driver on grad night and is now in a wheelchair. He also actually works at Goldman-Sachs, so he has power over Matt, though he never uses it. Michelle Trachtenberg plays Ashley, a hot Goth chick who obviously likes to party and is impressed by Barry and his “anti-dancing.” Michael Ian Black plays Pete, Tori’s pervy boss. These characters, sprinkled in, adds to the laughs that the movie brings.

Overall, I absolutely adored Take Me Home Tonight. Minus the sex and cocaine, it’s exactly how I imagined people older than me were spending their time in 1988 – driving around in convertibles, having wild parties, and just having a completely epic night. Certain 80s elements in the film still made me feel nostalgic – I may have been in kindergarten, but I still remember the music, the big hair, the shoulder pads, and the pastels – and other parts made me wish I had been fifteen years older back then so I could have experienced it first hand. Take Me Home Tonight is a really fun movie, and I would definitely recommend it.