[yasr_overall_rating]
Womanizing advertising executive Aaron tries to stop best friend Sean from falling into the “eternal damnation” of marriage by throwing a wild bachelor party to remind Sean of the joys of bachelorhood.
“Bachelors” (formerly “The Night Before”) is the sort of risqué, vulgar, taboo, and foul-mouthed comedy that used to inhabit the 1980s. Today, everything is so diplomatic and politically correct, I sometimes wish I could go back to that decade, just so I can remember what it was like for everyone not to take everything so seriously. And that’s “Bachelors” summed up. It’s a movie about best friends who always want to stay best friends and never want that sacred union disrupted.
And that is how we are introduced to Aaron (Colin Egglesfield) and Sean (Drew Fuller), two best friends since the 4th grade. They absolutely love women, they just never fall “in love” with them. But all that changes one night when Sean lays eyes on gorgeous Irene (Renee Roth) and she steals his heart. Not long after, Aaron meets Kayla (Anna Hutchison), a beautiful and classy lady who never puts out for him. Being a player, and always getting his way with the women, she intrigues him as he has never had a woman say no to him. Instead of a one-night stand, they spend countless evenings together, talking and laughing and gradually, Aaron begins to feel a really strange sensation. When he realizes that he is beginning to fall for her, he quickly pulls away and encourages her to take a job promotion in Chicago.
With Sean’s wedding day looming, Aaron is determined to do whatever it takes so that he doesn’t lose his best friend to the sacrament of marriage and with the help of some college buddies, they retreat to Floyd’s (Chris Owen) house in the hills, for the bachelor party to end all bachelor parties.
The first thought that comes to mind is Tom Hanks’ 1984 breakout comedy, “Bachelor Party,” in which a man’s best friends throw him the ultimate bachelor party and while that movie was enjoyable, thanks mostly to Hanks’ charisma and appeal, I don’t hold a grudge against director Kenny Young for wanting to remake it in today’s world. While it was amusing, it was by no means a classic and thankfully, “Bachelors” is even more outrageous, brazen, and laugh-out-loud funny than its predecessor. Colin Egglesfield, who is comparable to a young Tom Cruise in his prime, including mannerisms, eccentricities, and facial expressions, is ultimately likable, given his predisposition for using women for sex and then pushing them out of his apartment in the middle of the night so that he doesn’t have to share breakfast with them, a sure sign that it is more than a one-night stand. As soon as he meets Kayla though, and she doesn’t abide by his rules, we can instantly tell that she is going to change his whole world, and that she does. The player attribute is his shield, what he uses so that nobody can see that deep down, he really wishes he had that one special lady in his life but having never experienced it before, we give him the benefit of the doubt, as we slowly grasp that he is simply, afraid.
The rest of the cast is appealing and very charismatic and David Faustino, who has made a name for himself playing cocky and contentious characters, here starts out the same way, constantly bragging about how good he was in college but as the layers are peeled away, we see that it is all a front, a way for people not to see the “real” Gus, whose life is absolutely nowhere near as perfect as he pretends. The film presents this group of seemingly typical male friends, who all, to some degree, act like everything in their lives is great, when ultimately, they are all suffering in one way or another and throughout the story’s progression, we get to know a little about each character, and how their rekindled college friendships fundamentally saves each of them.
The film adds layers of depth to an otherwise straightforward, raunchy comedy and because of that, I await director Kenny Young’s next feature with great anticipation. The fact that he can take a bunch of decidedly throwaway characters and an overused, stereotypical story, that in the hands of any other director, would be instantly forgettable, and triumphantly makes it all work, is a great detriment to his ability as a filmmaker. While it may not win any awards, it is an enjoyable and entertaining way to spend an evening.
Available on Digital August 16th
