Home > Movies > Movie Review > Box Elder

Box Elder

Slacker bliss for admirers of Seth Rogen

By Matt Pais

Metromix
May 14, 2008

Critic's Rating:

• Email
• Print View
• Share
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Google
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • Mister Wong
  • Yahoo Buzz
  • Yahoo
• Add To Favorites
• Add to playlist

College pals go out to eat, get drunk and spend more time lying on the couch than learning or cleaning themselves. They also endure breakups, annoying frat brothers and apartments with non-functioning heat. The first-time actors include Nick Renkoski, Chad Haas, Alex Rennie and writer-director Todd Sklar.

Big question: Is this low-budget comedy anything more than another excuse to show guys -- like some of the men in “Knocked Up” -- sitting around, doing very little with their lives and not really caring?
 
Catch it: Beautifully versed in the Language of Dude, "Box Elder" will take you back to your days of no responsibility -- or just when you blew it off. Like a brew of Judd Apatow-inspired laziness and the reckless antics of the guys on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” the film nails the casual dynamics of male friends who care more about sandwiches, video games and unwritten rules between guys (Don’t sleep with a friend’s ex, for example) than homework or personal hygiene.
 
Skip it: If it’s too painful for you to recall past events like accidentally drinking candle wax or getting hopped up on Red Bull and shooting yourself with a BB gun. Hey, it happens to everyone.
 
Bottom line: Perhaps it's too optimistic to assume that lives like this would have more going on, but there's certainly room in “Box Elder” for a bit more detail and feeling within these nihilistic episodes. Yet with little schoolwork and a bunch of nonsense, the movie holds up as a collage of slim yet valuable memories, presented the way they'll probably be remembered a few years and many beers down the road.
 
Bonus: A minor character comments on the risk of kids choking on “Hungry Hungry Hippos” balls and that babies should be “classified as animals” when near board games. Discuss!

What do you think of 'Box Elder'? Email me: mpais@tribune.com

What other people are saying...

1 comment | Add Your Own

You will be prompted to register or log in when posting.

Comment

Please note that by clicking on "Post Comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Service. Be polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator.