In the same vein as raucous comedies like The Hangover comes 2013’s 21 & Over. Old high school buddies Miller (Miles Teller) and Casey (Skylar Astin) go to visit their fellow pal Jeff Chang (Justin Chon) on the occasion of his 21st birthday. They plan to take him out for wild partying to celebrate, but under the watchful eye of his stern father Dr. Chang (François Chau) – with an important med school interview the next day – Jeff attempts to decline this offer.

Miller refuses to take no for an answer, so Jeff agrees to go out for one beer. Inevitably, this leads to a lot more than a single beverage, and Jeff ends up totally trashed. Miller and Casey need to get him home, but that proves easier said than done and leads to a long night of wild shenanigans.

The flick’s publicity plays up its similarities with The Hangover; indeed, it comes from John Lucas and Scott Moore, the 2009 hit’s writers who also make their directorial debut with Over. They wrote the moderate hit Four Christmases but other efforts like The Change-Up and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past failed to make much of an impact.

I guess that means it’s logical that Lucas and Moore would retreat to the “safety” of a Hangover-style party movie, but the results don’t prove to be terribly productive. Part of the problem comes from a “been there, done that” sense, as Over often feels like a collection of bits and pieces from other flicks. In addition to Hangover, we feel the influence of movies like Harold and Kumar, Project X and American Pie.

This means we find a decided lack of originality on display in Over. None of this makes Over a poor movie, but it becomes a decidedly lackluster one, as it never manages to muster its own sensibility.

Part of the problem stems from the flick’s disjointed story. Granted, tales like this tend toward episodic narratives, as they focus on wacky sequences without much emphasis on a coherent tale, but this one feels a bit more random than most.

Or maybe it just comes across that way because it fails to bring the laughs. No, it’s not a total disaster; unlike the witless Project X, Over occasionally delivers signs of wit, and its cast helps. None of them delight, but they give the marginal material a little extra zing.

The end result remains pretty lackluster, though. 21 & Over creates a moderately watchable party flick but it doesn’t manage to become anything memorable.

21 & Over appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. Across the board, the flick looked solid.

Sharpness was strong. From start to finish, the flick presented concise images without any obvious issues connected to softness. Jagged edges and shimmering didn’t occur, and edge enhancement remained absent. Source flaws also failed to present any problems, as the movie offered a clean image.

For the most part, Over went with the teal and orange palette dominant in modern Hollywood. These tendencies weren’t overwhelming, though; this wasn’t teal-and-orange crazy like A Good Day to Die Hard. Overall, the colors seemed fine, so even with the tint, the hues worked well enough. Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed good delineation. This was a positive presentation.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it was consistently fine but not great. Like most comedies, this one went with a pretty restrained soundfield. During some of the wilder scenes, elements moved around the room in a decent manner, though they never became especially impressive. The surrounds offered moderate reinforcement and not much more.

Audio quality satisfied. Speech was consistently crisp and tight, without edginess or other issues. Music fared best, as the score and songs provided nice vivacity and punch. Effects didn’t have much to do, but they seemed acceptably accurate and full. Nothing here impressed, but I thought the track deserved a “B-“.

Only minor extras fill out the disc. Levels of Intoxication runs three minutes, 48 seconds and features writers/directors Scott Moore and John Lucas and actors Justin Chon, Miles Teller and Skylar Astin. They discuss how drunk Chon had to act in various scenes. It includes a few mildly interesting tidbits but usually remains a tepid promotional piece.

In the three-minute, eight-second Tower of Power, we hear from Astin, Chon, Teller, and actor Sarah Wright. They tell us a little about the movie’s “Tower of Power” sequence in this fluffy, forgettable featurette.

A Gag Reel lasts two minutes, 24 seconds. For the most part, it consists of the usual flubs and giggles. However, it throws out a few alternate lines, so those make it a bit more interesting than most of its ilk.

The disc opens with ads for The Internship, A Good Day to Die Hard, and Movie 43. Sneak Peek tosses in promos for Cheech and Chong’s Animated Movie and Archer Season 3. The Blu-ray also gives us the trailer for Over.

A second disc provides a DVD Copy of Over. It comes with no extras other than some previews.

If you like Hangover-style comedy, will you get anything out of 21 & Over? Maybe, but don't expect a lot from it; while not without its own merits, it lacks much inspiration or creativity. The Blu-ray delivers good picture and audio but lacks notable supplements. This becomes a decent but forgettable comedy.