Premature (2014) Reviews

• Not original, but definitely funny and entertaining

  tsangaridesi2014-09-06

  To sum this movie up in one word: entertaining. Even though it's a mash-up of Groundhog Day and American Pie, meaning it lacks originality, and has one of the most cliché "plot twists" of all time, it's still oddly hilarious. The movie is enjoyable if you're watching it with friends, or just sitting at home alone. I really liked the actors, even if the acting wasn't great. It was good, just not great. The jokes are funny;90% of them at least, and it's my kind of humor, so the likability of this movie will vary for each person based on what your kind of humor is. If you liked American Pie, you're probably going to like this movie.

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• Give it a chance...

  LLgoatJ2017-02-13

  I did not want to watch this film as on paper it sounded awful and juvenile. I gave it a go and am pleased I did. As others have said, this is a mash between Groundhog Day and American Pie. A teenage boy is stuck living the same day over and over, every time he ejaculates he goes back to the start of the day to relive it. It sounds an awful film and there are some moments, such as him using his headteachers sandwich mayonnaise to help him masturbate to avoid being arrested, which bring the humour level down. However there are some genuinely funny laugh out loud moments. The ending is predictable, corny and slightly suspect. Would you really leave a boy in your daughters bedroom, especially if you walked in on them and she was just wearing a bra? There are some great performances especially by the lead I have never heard of before and Craig Roberts. Overall I would give this film a go. It sounds awful and juvenile but it quickly brings you in. You may not find all the humour funny or even tasteful, but there are some really funny moments. The Groundhog Day aspect of the film give it a twist that makes it stand out and above American Pie style films.

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• Predictable but watchable

  death-hawk12014-08-17

  This film is pretty typical of the High School comedy. Some cheap gags centered around toilet humour or sex, a cast of reasonably 1 (or if you're lucky 2) dimensional characters and a heartwarming albeit totally predictable conclusion after 90 minutes. I'm not quite sure why several other reviewers are commenting on Katie Findlay's performance. It hit the top of the bell curve. For those not statistically inclined that means it was average, neither good nor bad but smack on the Mean. The film's lead actor, John Karna, was chosen for the ability to pull a realistic 'cum' face reliably. Considering that was his primary expression for the majority of the movie he was a good choice, his acting ability otherwise. So so. The only consistently funny performance was provided by Craig Roberts who is actually endowed with the ability to act. I've seen him in a couple of other pictures and think this kid has a long acting career ahead of him. The film is essentially a rip off of 'Groundhog Day' which is of course a better film. For 'Premature' to really succeed it could have lowered it's own bar and fully embraced the toilet humour motif. Other films have done this and been hilarious, Premature got caught up in the emotions too much. If it had followed Groundhog's course more similarly and become an example of total plagiarism then the film would have been better although never released. The other option was to embrace the whole 'curse' idea, which was introduced toward the end of the film, and work some gags out of that. However 'Premature' opted for a watered down combination of all three leaving the viewer somewhat unsatisfied. If you go into this not expecting much (because not much is all you'll get) then you won't be disappointed. 4.5/10 rounded up to 5

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• A Pretty Average Blending of American Pie and Groundhog Day

  JustCuriosity2014-03-26

  Premature was reasonably well-received by its audience at its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. I didn't expect too much from it and that's pretty much what I got: not much. Premature is an average film with a few funny scenes, but nothing extraordinary or particularly interesting. There were few scenes that drew low ball humor mostly involving masturbation. This film fulfilled the cliché that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; unfortunately, Dan Beers is not Harold Ramis and the young actors lack the comic genius of Bill Murray. Premature strives to be Goundhog Day for the American Pie generation, but the script lacks the magic that made Groundhog Day a classic that is remembered and beloved. The young actors tried to make something entertaining of thus highly derivative script and they clearly did their best with very average material. Some of them have talent and may end up being successful. There is really nothing memorable or interesting about this film. If it is distributed it will make for an average, but forgettable date movie. At the Q&A following the film, someone asked if they had been able to show it to Harold Ramis before his death. The director said that they had not, and frankly, I'm glad that Ramis last days weren't wasted on this particular second-rate imitation of one of his best films. Dan Beers should try to write something original next time.

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• Groundhog's Day for those who haven't seen American Pie

  dragokin2015-01-19

  The authors had a brilliant idea to stage Groundhog's Day in the high school environment of American Pie. That was garnered with jokes to which the young viewers would supposedly relate to, young meaning teenagers. After watching Premature i remembered how i found amusing old people's comments about youth disrespecting them. Well, during Premature i felt almost like those senior citizens. As if i lost touch with the world, i laughed a couple of times and found most of the movie on the other side of good taste. The humor is on the trail of Jackass and free online soft porn and makes me wonder what the youth of today actually do in their free time. Watching videos on Youtube is kind of a given, but i'd be curious to know what comes after. Or when they grow up and mature... I mean, the teenage comedies of the old, let's take Porky's (1982) as an example or even American Pie, for that matter, were guilty pleasures and were funny after all. One of the main jokes in Premature is male masturbation which after some repetition becomes uninteresting.

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