The Binge, a concept similar to the purge but instead, like the 1920’s, without speakeasies. Written by Jordan VanDina and directed by Jeremy Garelick, the premise is it’s the one day a year people are allowed to binge on drugs and alcohol as they’re illegal every other day of the year. What does that mean for these legal high schoolers? To binge of course and become Gaunlet Legends!
Starring Vince Vaughn, Skyler Gisondo, and Dexter Dardern. Two best friends and a third-wheel schoolmate (Eduardo Franco) make the most of their first binge. The trio set out to attend a wild party (The Gauntlet), avoid an evil twin brother/bullies, and meet Griffin’s (Gisondo) crush Lena (played by Grace Van Dien) who also happens to be the principal’s daughter. Enter Vince Vaughn, a zany, power-hungry principal who shames the lunch-lady and uses her burn-victim story as an example of how not to party during The Binge. It’s so wrong it’s comical. Funny but wrong.
Bar bicycles, stretch limo crashes, laced weed, roofied parents, and a dead cow. Spoiler alert! There was also a random musical number in the film with a La La Land vibe. It was like a bad advertisement you remember because it was so weird. The story has a nice surprise ending. You probably could guess the guy gets the girl. The how and why is the interesting part. At the beginning of The Binge the kids and Vince Vaughn each go on their own adventures and their character development unfolds as the movie progresses. I was pleased by the ending, so I won’t completely ruin it for you. No matter how ridicule it was. If stupid humor tickles your fancy this is the movie for you.
Although I enjoy Vince Vaughn and love that he’s a Chicago fan like me, I have to give props go to Gisondo, Darden, and Franco for portraying real friendships and high school angst. Their friendship was believable, relatable, and entertaining. The dynamic brought to the screen helped me as an anchor through the various absurd plot twists. I would recommend this film only if you’re a fan of slapstick comedy, crass, bazaar, flat out stupid plot points. Think of The Package, this Dramady with no other agenda than to take an okay story-line and snowball it into a wacky ping-pong of obstacles for the characters.
Personally, I wouldn’t pay for this movie at any point, ever. I always appreciate humor however, I thought the plot predictability and highly unrealistic scenarios caused me to lose interest. I was not invested how their binge went from bad to worst and yet they still managed to be binge legends. YEAH RIGHT. I enjoyed the Al Pacino impressions scene and the introduction of “Planterra.” Would people go crazy if there was a real binge day? 100%. It’s almost like watching Americans completely culturally appropriate holidays like “St. Patty’s Day” (St. Paddy’s Day) or “Cinco de Drinko” (Cinco de Mayo) with excessive drinking, bad decisions, and a different theme. This movie is almost as crazy as 2020. In the end, The Binge did it’s job creating a crazy adventure leaving the boys victorious. The Binge wraps up with a fairly predictable, yet feel-good way. I give this movie a final score of six.
