Bart Got a Room (2008)

71% of critics liked it
(35 reviews)
48% of users liked it
(2,162 ratings)

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 only appears 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… More 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 only appears 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. 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. 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 chat rooms, while Hines's Beth sees relationships as a shortcut to financial security. ~ David Shim, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 20 min.
Directed By: Brian Hecker
Written By: Brian Hecker
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Apr 3, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Jul 28, 2009
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail
Here's something you don't see every day: a high-school comedy for old poops.
Greg Quill, Toronto Star
Bart Got A Room is an affectionately nuanced comedy of manners whose focus is first love and the navigation of complex relationships.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
The sweet, dizzy finale makes up for all the predictability before it.
Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies
Hines and Macy get some laughs, but the film itself feels insufficiently developed.
Ben Lyons, At the Movies
It's an inventive take on a story that we've heard a million times before.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
The sight of William H. Macy sporting a Jew-fro as a divorced dad trying to help his nerdy son score with a prom date is among the myriad delights in the gut-bustingly funny Bart Got a Room.
Sarah Sluis, Film Journal International
Sweetly neurotic countdown-to-the-prom captures teen life in South Florida.
Brent Simon, Shared Darkness
An uninterrupted string of frustratingly false moments marked by a consistent, wide gulf between what it actually says and what its characters purport that others are saying.
Kam Williams, Sly Fox
A charming romantic comedy which proves it's still possible to find funny teen-oriented fare that doesn't rely on relentlessly crude and profane humor.
Katherine Monk, Vancouver Sun
Hecker's film finds a charm that eludes most movies dependent on misplaced prostitutes, bedroom sex noises and male insecurities.
Paul Brenner, Filmcritic.com
totally wacky, a rite-of-passage romp
Jim Slotek, Jam! Movies
When we get to the prom, the music sounds like nothing you'd ever hear at one. In fact, I'd be surprised if any actual teenagers in the year 2009 found any reference points in Bart Got a Room relevant to their own existence.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...rarely holds the viewer's interest in as rapt a manner as Hecker presumably intended.
Mark Keizer, Boxoffice Magazine
While hardly the most novel of stories, what puts Bart Got a Room above the norm is a tight and charming screenplay and Hecker's way with mood and place.
Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com
A fresh and amusing teen comedy all about the anxiety of trying to find a date for the prom.
Marshall Fine, Hollywood & Fine
Bart Got a Room pulls you into its comically hyperbolic world of teen anxiety %u2013 and is solid enough for long enough to disappoint you in the end.
Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly
Hecker's got a knack for teen misery, but he's aiming higher than beers-and-boobs moronity. What follows is excruciating excavated high school trauma

Read all 17 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cynthia S

William H. Macy movies. What is it about his movies that I just love? He seems to always be in the quirkiest kind of movies that just make me chuckle. I really got a kick out of this movie, and couldnt wait to find out who the heck Bart was...
Leigh R

Typical "teenager on a quest to have sex" movie. Nothing spectacular but still kind of funny.
Lewis C

Bart Got a Room is a harmless, unremarkable movie. It's not excessively funny or surprising, but it's a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half. There are some funny parts, and it leaves you with a bit of a feel-good vibe after it's over. It's different and more… More
Bart Got a Room is a harmless, unremarkable movie. It's not excessively funny or surprising, but it's a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half. There are some funny parts, and it leaves you with a bit of a feel-good vibe after it's over. It's different and more heartfelt than your average teen comedy, and that's what makes it worth watching.
Deb S

The story of high school senior Danny (Steven Kaplan), who's spent a small fortune on the hotel room, limo, and tux for his prom. What he doesn't have is a date because he's torn between taking someone with whom he can become romantically intimate and his best friend… More
The story of high school senior Danny (Steven Kaplan), who's spent a small fortune on the hotel room, limo, and tux for his prom. What he doesn't have is a date because he's torn between taking someone with whom he can become romantically intimate and his best friend Camille (Alia Shawkat). In the meantime, his parents' divorce weighs heavily on his mind. Danny is a good kid who yearns to see his parents (the perky Cheryl Hines and the hilarious William H. Macy as Ernie who has turned to the web in order to find his soul mate) get back together so they can become a real family. ~Spoiler~ I absolutely loved the scene with Ernie, who is so bent on getting Danny a date for the prom that he ditches a date (with a character played by the gorgeous Jennifer Tilly), runs halfway across Hollywood and winds up picking an older and slightly plump prostitute for Danny to take to the big dance.
Sarah P

This was hilarious. A great little comedy that was genuinely funny and didn't try too hard. This is what movies should be about!