We the Party
2012104 minutes
rated R
by Scott Mendelson
At its best, Mario Van Peebles's We the Party feels like the director's overt thesis statement on today's youth culture. The picture is at heart a somewhat generic youthful coming-of-age story that follows several high schoolers as they struggle to determine their place in their portion of the world. It arguably wants to be a defining portrait of a youth embroiled in the connectivity-era, along with a generally upper-middle class Los Angeles living under the first minority president. But the film is actually at its best when its all-but explicitly monologuing what is clearly Van Peebles's thoughts about a whole host of social issues. The film has more educational merit than filmmaking polish. It is clearly an amateur work, with a respected filmmaker working on a shoe-string budget with largely novice actors. Because of what it preaches and what it represents, I wish it were a better overall movie. But for those inclined to sample it, We the Party has enough on its mind to justify its threadbare existence.
