Review of The Party Animal

Naive and awkward virginal hillbilly Pondo Sinatra (well played with endearingly gawky charm by Matthew Causey) goes to college so he can score with the babes. Despite his numerous earnest, yet fumbling efforts and sage advice from suave Lothario Studly (a winningly smooth performance by Timothy Carhart), Pondo just can't get lucky with the ladies. Good fortune finally shines on Pondo's heretofore dark and dismal existence when he whips up a powerful aphrodisiac potion in the chemistry lab. Next thing you know luscious women are throwing themselves at Pondo. Writer/director David Beaird deftly concocts a deliciously dumb and lively cinematic brew that's simmering over with priceless dippy dialogue ("I'm like King Midas -- everything I touch turns to *very naughty word deleted*!"), hot chicks aplenty, a generous sprinkling of yummy bare distaff skin, a nonstop zippy pace, an infectiously lowbrow sense of blithely idiotic and undemanding no-brainer humor, and a cheerfully crude, but good-natured tone. Gut-busting comic highlights include Pondo as the token out-of-place uncool white guy at an all-black party, Pondo's abortive attempts at suicide, Pondo sneaking into a sorority disguised as a girl and getting all the gals to play a game of strip poker, Pondo getting an extreme punk make-over complete with Mohawk, Pondo doing an alarmingly substantial amount of drugs at a wild bash, and Pondo visiting an adult sex shop. Causey and Carhart do excellent and engaging work in the lead roles; they receive able support from Jerry Jones as hip janitor Elbow, Robin Harlan as evasive blonde goddess Natasha, Luci Roucis as pretentious aspiring actress Sophia, Joan Dykman as a fearsome nurse, Frannie James as the uptight dean, and Leland Crooke as the dean's flamboyant gay secretary (the scene where he lusts after Pondo is positively sidesplitting!). The way cool soundtrack of funky-rockin' songs by the Fleshtones, the Buzzcocks, and the Untouchables seriously smokes. Bryan England's bright cinematography gives the movie an attractive sunny look. Sure, this flick is utterly stupid and ridiculous, but it's so gleefully silly and moronic that it's always entertaining and often downright hilarious. An absolutely uproarious hoot.