Box Elder

2008 college comedy

Rating: 15/20

Plot: A group of friends experience college together. They misbehave, fall in love, eat each other's Chinese food, trash an apartment, party, occasionally go to class, and party more.

This was recommended to me by a drunk Kent, and this free-flowing and nearly plotless look at college life, like a Dada Dazed and Confused maybe, really got me. I chortled at the antics of these characters who, to be honest, I could in no way identify with and who didn't seem all that realistic to me. A lot of it has to do with the comic timing and chemistry between the principles. I'm not sure how much of this was improvised, but it's got that feel, and it's one of those cases where I'm not sure how the performers kept from giggling at each other's shenanigans on screen. It also feels like it was filmed over a long period of time, probably on weekends or whenever a few of the actors could get together, a real labor of love. Cheap, irreverent, and destined for cult classic status if enough people bother finding it. There are so many gags stuffed in this thing that it demands multiple viewings. It's something I'd probably watch again which says a lot. Or maybe it doesn't say anything. Anyway, I'll look forward to seeing what else young director Todd Sklar does.