He has an engaging, off-center rhythm that suggests he plans to think his way through life instead of making a frontal assault.
#House party movie
The chases serve to punctuate the music and the dancing.Ī lot of the energy in the movie comes from the natural, unaffected performance of Reid as the teenager who will do anything to get to that dance. He sneaks out of the house, leading to a long night of mild slapstick as he's chased by his father, by the police and by three tough athletes from his school who he has unwisely offended. Like all teenagers, he believes that life literally exists one day at a time, and that an opportunity missed today - especially an opportunity to meet the girlfriend of his dreams - is missed forevermore. And when a kid gets in trouble, he should be grounded. He lives with his father ( Robin Harris), a gruff but lovable disciplinarian who doesn't want to seem unreasonable but does believe a kid should do his homework before partying at night. The movie's hero is Kid ( Christopher Reid), a bright goofball with a haircut that makes Eraserhead look like a Marine. His teenagers are neither: They're normal, average kids with the universal desire to go to a party and dance. We hardly ever see black teenagers at all in films, and when we do they're painted in images that are either negative and threatening, or impossibly clean-cut. In the case of "House Party," the musical is a canvas used by the director, Reginald Hudlin, to show us black teenagers with a freshness and originality that's rare in modern movies.