“Party at LeBron’s” is a dynamite premise for a movie, especially if the King in question is the cheapskate egotist who stole the 2015 romcom Trainwreck as effortlessly as he would a lazy crosscourt pass. But it’s one thing for Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer to caricature the NBA great, quite another for James to take himself down a few pegs and bring one of the more beloved franchises in Black film cinema history with him.
House Party – like the forthcoming White Men Can’t Jump remake, also directed by Charles Kidd II (AKA Calmatic) – makes no titular attempt to distinguish itself from the 1990 classic. This latest edition, which premieres this weekend, doesn’t so much build on the story of the previous three films, or the two straight-to-DVD postscripts, as retread the idea of two best buds throwing a big do that promises to forever change their lives. In the original, Kid and Play (Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin) were a hungry pair of preppy rappers who were legitimately talented and clawing for a breakthrough. In the new edition Damon (Tosin Cole) is a clout-chasing social media influencer, and Kevin (Jacob Latimore) a reluctant bedroom beat maker with a baby daughter named Destiny (groan) who needs money for private school.
