Bart Got a Room

Description

Bart got a room—a hotel room—and he’s booked it for senior prom night. Though the title character of BART GOT A ROOM appears only in one brief scene towards the end of the film, it’s his uber-geek specter that hangs over writer-director Brian Hecker’s comedy, a semi-autobiographical ode to teenage angst that aims for AMERICAN PIE-style yucks with a light edge of Philip Roth’s comic neuroticisms. The plot is centered on the hopelessly dateless Danny (Steven Kaplan), a gawky band nerd who must decide between taking his best friend, Camille (Alia Shawkat), to the prom, and attempting to woo the date of his dreams, a pretty blonde cheerleader. Along the way he endures derision and peer pressure from friends, as well as uncomfortably frank advice from his divorced parents, played by Cheryl Hines and William H. Macy (who sports a fantastically bad Jewfro). Set in the geriatric environs of terminally sunny south Florida, Danny’s world offers constant reminders of the road he’s headed down should he not solidify this one life-defining event: Macy’s Ernie grapples with loneliness by seeking women in chatrooms, while Hines’s Beth sees relationships as a shortcut to financial security. Kaplan gives a winning performance as the feckless, desperate Danny, coming across like a hormone-driven mix of Jason Biggs and Woody Allen. And while Hecker’s subtle screenplay doesn’t offer outsized laughs, it's notable for its lack of raunch and snark, a quality that sets this sweet indie comedy apart from the usual teen sex-romp fare.