The Party Never Stops: Diary of a Binge Drinker (2007)

This was a watchable enough TV movie in a train derailment sort of way. A Lifetime movie with a message. Actually it reminded me of those "after school specials" that were all the rage when I was growing up. Addictive but cheesy, over the top dramatizations of teens making bad decisions and then dealing with the consequences. Here we follow promising track star and mama's girl Jessie Brenner as she heads off to college. Trying to fit in and be one of the cool kids she soon starts partying with her dorm-mate and before long slides into binge drinking and debauchery while lying to her mother about her constant partying and late hours. Promiscuity, car wrecks, topless internet videos, failing grades and general bad decisions soon follow.Despite being a bit hard to take seriously, I enjoyed Nancy Travis as the Mum and Sara Paxton did a decent enough job as Jessie. Some of the party scenes were pretty hilarious and there were some continuity issues. I also found the ending predictable as Lifetime gives one last desperate attempt to drive the "bad drinking" message home to young and influencable viewers. 4/6/15 *Victoria BC as somewhere college town USA.

As the parent of a 12th-grade boy I found this movie credible and scary.The plot twists are easy to spot but that didn't bother me much. I knew that pretty Jessie Brenner (Reese Witherspoon-lookalike Sara Paxton) would party too hard, go to bed with users, wind up topless on the Internet, and find her debauched roommate Shanna (Chelsea Hobbs) dead from alcohol. I also foresaw that Jessie's mother, well-played by Nancy Travis, would finally make an embarrassing visit to campus.I think this movie nails the unpleasant conflicts that can erupt between parents and kids nearing adulthood. The elders have good reason to mistrust their children and boy, do the offspring resent them! I wondered whether the party atmosphere as depicted in the film was a little over-the-top, but that may reflect the fact that I am now 57 years old. I liked how Mrs. Brenner finally put her foot down, telling Jessie that if she made any grade under a C she wasn't going to pay the tuition. Excellent! From my current vantage point, it's scary to think of teenagers becoming alcoholic as they room together without supervision. Yet I must have faith that many undergrads realize they're in college for a reason.I watched this Lifetime movie with my 11-year-old son and it gave us an opportunity to look up on the Internet the penalties for being caught with a forged ID. (He wasn't thrilled about the discussion.) That research in itself was educative. Now, if I can only get my older son to listen while I (try to) explain...

The star of the film is a beautiful blonde who is usually a goodie-two-shoes but is pressured to binge drink by her manipulative best friend. Watching this my own memories of college came back to me and I remembered my former best friend who also pressured me into similarly compromising situations. That being said and without giving away too much I was really pleased by the ending of the movie! It's also nice to think that girls as beautiful as Sara Paxton would actually experience adolescent angst and go for the slightly less attractive guy. The hilarious part of this movie is how it takes a G-Rated approach to such topics as underage drinking, drinking and driving, and public nudity. The result is this kind of clunky accidental comedy. For example, Sara Paxton's character states that she would never expose herself for a "Girls Gone Wild" type video, and you don't believe it but suddenly you KNOW that is exactly what will happen, and you even feel a little guilty for suddenly getting excited!

A good movie. Thats plain and simple. The comment I read about this not being realistic is silly. Obviously its a MOVIE so its painting it slightly dramatized. But, as a young woman in her early 20s myself, I have friends in college who have gone through a lot of the same things. Unfortunately, the money can come from mommy and daddy or from a side job. Its not hard to find a small part time job in a college town. I live near one and its always packed with the students working the restaurants and visiting friends. Getting alcohol is not difficult for a college student at all. I think this movie is a serious wake up call to any college freshman who says "that could never be me." Sadly, it could and its completely possible. I wont let the cat out of the bag in this but there are serious issues that can arise from drinking too much. A great idea and fabulous story line.