Produced by Ben Stiller and directed by Jake Szymanski this farcical romp of the classic teenage road trip is as refreshing as it is improbable.
Donnie, played Luke Spencer Roberts, has planned a spring break, bros-only weekend camping trip for his friends Jeremy Abelar and Sean Floyd, played by Eduardo Franco and Daniel Doheny, respectively. While they’re packing the SUV, Jeremy’s twin sister Becky, played by Geraldine Viswanathan, and her friend Sarah, played by Sadie Calvano, show up to come along. Unbeknownst to Donnie, Jeremy had given them the okay earlier.
Once it’s settled that the girls are gonna come along, requisite romantic linkages are established in the SUV shortly after they leave the driveway. Turns out Sean and Becky almost, but not quite, had a meaningful flirtation at a cast party before he departed to study abroad in Germany the year before. Donnie and Sarah have had an on/off relationship but are somewhere in between on and off. Jeremy is in a texting, possible catfish relationship, with Kendall Jenners. That’s Jenners with and S.
The camping trip goes south almost immediately when Jeremy accidentally severs his penis while playing with a butterfly knife while peeing. Jeremy gets outs of the woods by helicopter but his friends must hike out with his severed penis which was left behind in a beer cooler identical to the one thought to have his penis inside on ice. From here it’s a plot of rather inventive obstacles to get the penis to Jeremy who’s waiting in a local hospital for reattachment surgery before it’s too late.
As if the movie needs a snake metaphor with a flaccid severed penis flying across the screen every ten minutes, one obstacle involves a rattlesnake and a hackneyed joke.
All’s well that ends well, physically and romantically, for all parties involved.
The Package is a fun diversion with wacky locals and normal teens. Unique in its absence of gratuitous teen nudity and sex, except for a little actual adult porn, the actors also look like people you could have gone to high school with. The kid with the drone is priceless. A shout out to the supporting cast, as well.
The Package is a great movie to decompress to.
