Based on the cover of the movie, I was expecting a comedy in the lines of your basic run of the mill teen-comedies, but this movie wasn't particularly funny.
As for the story? Well, it was easy to follow, actually so easy to follow that you could switch off your brain entirely. You have some guy who wins a reality TV show and becoming a semi-celebrity because of it. And we all have so much respect for people competing in and winning "reality" TV shows, don't we? Anyway, the guy wins a penthouse and have his teenage friends move in. I have to point out that the guys here are nearing their 30th year. And of course they party and behave like they were teenagers, not much of a surprise there.
Then throw into the frame the contest winner's girlfriend and then have her become romantically entangled with one of his friends. That is pretty much the movie right there. And of course you know how this movie is going to end right from the very beginning, it is just that predictable. Enough said about the story.
Moving on to the people acting in the movie, Rider Strong in the role of Kieran was the one carrying the movie, though he should shave and get rid of that grizzly-look he was trying to sport in the movie. It was kind of disturbing to look at, but his acting was good and he was shining in this movie. Then you had Corey Lange who played Tyler (the reality TV show winner), he was adequate in acting, but you actually believed into his character well enough. And the third guy in the penthouse was Heath, played by James DeBello. He is sort of like Nicholas Cage, just have one face for whatever emotion he is trying to portray. Where as Nicholage Cage looks constipated, James DeBello just looks goofy, so it is a bit hard to take his seriously at times. April Scott, playing Trista, also helped the movie a good long way with her performance.
The best scene, in my opinion, in this entire movie was the lunch scene where Kieran had to meet the parents of the girl of which he was trying to break up with. Ed Begley Jr. was so awesome in that role. And I think that was actually the only time in the movie that I was laughing.
This movie looked promising, or sort of, on the DVD cover, but now that the movie is done I find myself sitting here with a somewhat empty feeling that goes "was that it?" to the movie. There was something missing in this movie to make it memorable. If you are in for an evening of fun and laughter, "The Penthouse" is perhaps not a movie to put your money on. You might just end up with the same sense of emptiness that I was left with.
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