Fun Size

Obviously striving for a John Hughes vibe, the plot of this Nickelodeon-produced teen movie revolves around a familiar “crazy night” escapade, here set on Halloween. High schoolers Wren (Victoria Justice) and best buddy April (Jane Levy) have been invited to a party by the campus stud, but Wren's mom—who is trying to recapture her youth by dating a much younger man—orders her daughter to take her little brother out trick-or-treating instead. Naturally, Wren loses the lad and spends the night searching for him, helped by April and two nerdy friends. Meanwhile, the kid falls in with a goofy convenience-store clerk on a mission to humiliate the girlfriend who dumped him. Tonally, director Josh Schwartz's film is a mess, with several sexually suggestive bits inserted into what otherwise appears to be kiddie fare (even worse, one plot thread uses the misperception of child molestation as a source of amusement). A predictably moral wrap-up--Wren learns responsibility and finds romance--comes across as nothing more than manipulative schmaltz. But even apart from the appallingly misjudged elements, the movie simply isn't that funny, hampered by lame dialogue, forced situations, one-dimensional characters, and uneven direction. Early on, Wren says to her friend, “This is bad, April. This is very, very bad.” Truer words have never been spoken, April. Not recommended. [Note: Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are extras including an “Unwrapped” making-of featurette (9 min.), deleted scenes (6 min.), a “Jackson Nicoll: Trouble Sized!” featurette on the costar (5 min.), a gag reel (4 min.), “This Kiss” music video by Carly Rae Jepsen along with a “making-of” segment on the music video (3 min.), trailers, and bonus digital and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a decent Blu-ray extras package for a lame film.] (F. Swietek)