By Jake Mahr
Arts Editor
The comedic film “Fun Size” was a big sponsor of Mira Costa’s Homecoming dance, offering free movie tickets to several students who bought Homecoming tickets. However, it seems as if the movie provides even less entertainment than the dance itself.
The “Nickelodeon” logo that appears on the screen right before the beginning of “Fun Size” immediately gets the audience expecting a movie for children with a simplistic storyline and childish humor that is hysterical for the kids and moderately enjoyable for the rest of the audience. Unfortunately, “Fun Size” fails to meet even these expectations.
“Fun Size,” directed by Josh Shwartz, creator of “The O.C.,” uses too many different, unrelated storylines that confuse the audience. The characters have little emotion, and the humor constantly changes from vulgar to childish, leaving the audience feeling awkward and unsatisfied.
Victoria Justice plays protagonist Wren, the paradoxical and stereotypical gorgeous nerd. The movie unfolds as Wren and her vapid friend, April (Jane Levy), begin worrying about the coming Halloween in their hometown of Cleveland. April is trying to decide whether to dress up as a “sexy mouse” or a “sexy kitty.” Wren, on the other hand, wants to be Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Coincidentally, Wren and April receive a much sought-after invitation to popular kid Aaron Riley’s (Thomas McDonell) Halloween party. When Wren’s mother, Joy (Chelsea Handler), decides to celebrate her Halloween with her 20-something year-old boyfriend, Keevan (Josh Pence), she leaves Wren stuck with her little brother, Albert (Jackson Nicoll), and the girls are devastated. Almost immediately, Albert runs away, and Wren enlists fellow geeks Roosevelt (Thomas Mann) and his friend Peng (Osric Chau) to help in the search for her missing little brother.
The primary issue with the film is its incoherence. The scenes quickly change from Albert’s mischief to Wren’s unluckiness in trying to find her brother to Joy’s festivities with a bunch of much younger guests, causing a lot of confusion.
However, the characters’ random escapades, as quick-changing as they may be, do provide some comedic value to the film, although they vary in maturity.
As Nickelodeon’s first PG-13 movie, it’s clear that the notable kids channel is trying to grow up. Yet, the varying degrees of humor cause the viewers to feel slightly uncomfortable, as they are not sure who the target audience actually is.
The actors are also constantly throwing out random and unnecessary one liners. It seems as if the script was created to keep viewers laughing, but these short lines are constantly followed by silence from the audience since they don’t really fit in with anything else.
Lastly, the characters throughout the film are simply unrelatable. Wren’s family is struggling through the loss of her father, but not enough explanation is put into this important aspect. The audience is unable to find any emotional connection with the characters due to the fact that there is barely any time or thought put into this part of the film.
Despite some humorous moments, “Fun Size” greatly falls short as a film. The two extremes in comedic maturity cause the audience to question the movie’s intentions. The countless story lines and adventures of the many characters unfortunately muddle the audience and add little to the film overall. “Fun Size” is rated PG-13 and is now playing in theaters nationwide.
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