Bart Got a Room is a 2008 comedy film written and directed by Brian Hecker, and stars Steven Kaplan, Alia Shawkat, William H. Macy, and Cheryl Hines. Also appearing in the film are Ashley Benson, Brandon Hardesty, Kate Micucci, Jennifer Tilly, Dinah Manoff (in her last film role as of 2022) and Chad Jamian Williams as Bart. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 25, 2008. It had a limited US release in select theaters on April 3, 2009 and was released on DVD on July 28, 2009.

Plot

This article needs an improved plot summary. You can provide one by editing this article. (November 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The film chronicles nerdy high school senior Danny Stein and his unsuccessful attempts to secure a prom date while his divorced father and mother are on their own unsuccessful quests to find love. The film s name comes from the fact that the most unpopular kid in school, Bart Beeber, not only secured a date for the prom, but got a hotel room after as well. This is a source of great anxiety for both Danny and his family.

Cast

• Ashley Benson as Alice
• Steven Kaplan as Danny Stein
• William H. Macy as Ernie
• Cheryl Hines as Beth Stein
• Alia Shawkat as Camille
• Brandon Hardesty as Craig
• Kate Micucci as Abby
• Jon Polito as Bob
• Jennifer Tilly as Melinda
• Katie McClellan as Gertie
• Dinah Manoff as Mrs Goodson
• Michael Mantell as Dr. Goodson
• Chad Jamian Williams as Bart Beeber
• Angelina Assereto as Marcie
• Sam Azouz as Uncle Walter

Production

Filming took place in Hollywood, Florida. The film is a semi-autobiographical story inspired by Hecker s life growing up as a nerd in South Florida. Hollywood Hills High School was used for the shooting of some scenes in the film. This movie marked the first time that Alia Shawkat, Dinah Manoff, and Michael Mantell have worked together since their appearances on the 2001-2002 TV series State of Grace.

Reception

Bart Got a Room won Best of Fest awards at The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, The Asheville Film Festival, and The Chicago Gen Art Film Festival. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has the film at a 70% approval rating, based on 37 reviews, with an average score of 6.2/10. The website s critical consensus reads, Just enough sweetness and good performances lighten up the high school-set tensions, creating a family-appropriate teen comedy. Metacritic reported that the film has a score of 57 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews .

Greg Quill of the Toronto Star called the film an affectionately nuanced comedy of manners , praising its warm sensibility reminiscent of Woody Allen s Radio Days, judicious editing and superbly controlled performances , concluding that: Bart Got A Room avoids most of the clichés of the genre, it also avoids the predictable denouement. The off-the-kilter final act is a brave, heart-warming surprise. Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times felt that Hecker was ill-equipped when directing Macy and Hines, saying she felt the latter was underused in her role. She later wrote that he does a better job with Kaplan and Shawkat, finding the former engaging and doing a good job with giving his character the naiveté and desperation of a kid hoping to change what seems to be the loser setting of his life. Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times wrote that despite Hecker capturing knowing images of Florida, she criticized his antiquated screenplay for lacking freshness in its given genre and giving his cast limited caricature parts, concluding that Tilly s five minute cameo reminds viewers that comedy without risk is as barren as a prom without a theme. Susan G. Cole, writing for NOW, felt that Hecker made a mistake when taking the farcical path instead of the broad route when telling his teen comedy story with unlikeable caricatures , saying, his indie pic demonstrates that a great setting, strong cast and decent premise won t save a bad script. John Semley of Exclaim! felt the film was another Napoleon Dynamite facsimile that bypasses funniness in favour of stylized quirkiness for its content, criticizing its thin awkward charm, mean-spirited and adolescent jokes, and portraying itself as an ugly, ersatz colouring book version of real life. Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine criticized Hecker s wafer-thin story for being a banal, half-sketched cartoon filled with offensive humor and teen comedy clichés, concluding that Macy s portrayal of his character s cornily scripted eccentricity felt believable and he escapes largely unscathed by sheer force of will.

Soundtrack

In the opening sequence, the film features the song Sing Sing Sing , played by the Hollywood Hills High School Band at the Hollywood Beach Bandshell.

Year	2008
ReleaseDate	2008-04-25
RuntimeMins	80
RuntimeStr	1h 20min
Plot	While Danny’s father and mother independently search for love, Danny is on his own desperate quest to find a prom date. Danny’s search becomes progressively more pathetic once he and his family learn that Bart, the school’s biggest dweeb, not only secured a date for the prom, but got a hotel room as well.
Awards	Awards, 1 win
Directors	Brian Hecker
Writers	Brian Hecker
Stars	Steven Kaplan, William H. Macy, Cheryl Hines
Produced by	Carina Alves,Stephen Benedek,Dina Burke,Frank DeMartini,Mario Fallone,Ed Hart,Pamela Hirsch,Michael LaFetra,Bruce Lunsford,Riva Marker,Galt Niederhoffer,Peter Pastorelli,Celine Rattray,Brenda Galilee Rhodes,Tony Shawkat,Reagan Silber,Randy Simon,Jai Stefan,Daniela Taplin Lundberg
Music by	Jamie Lawrence
Cinematography by	Hallvard Bræin
Film Editing by	Annette Davey,Danny Rafic
Casting By	Lori Wyman
Production Design by	Regina McLarney
Set Decoration by	Karen Virgin
Costume Design by	Jacqui W. Greenhill
Makeup Department	Dolly Djuric,Carol F. Doran,Carol Raskin,Carol Ann Rebecca
Production Management	Riva Marker,Brian Moon,Elayne Schneiderman Schmidt
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Steve Dale,Justin Dec,Peter Pastorelli
Art Department	Lynna Baculo,Robert Crowley,Michael J. Flynn,Charles Guanci Jr.,Herb Silverman
Sound Department	David Boulton,Benjamin Cheah,Ryan Collison,Gerald Donlan,Lewis Goldstein,Bobby Johanson,Andy Kris,Andrew Morgado,Chris Navarro,James Nichols,Jay Peck,Ray Rifice,Gregg Swiatlowski,Damian Volpe,Mark Weber,John Werner
Special Effects by	Bruce E. Merlin
Visual Effects by	John Bair,Bridget Carroll
Camera and Electrical Department	Roberto Ballesteros,Carl Davin,Nicolas Donadio,Alex Escarpanter,Peter Farber,Mitchell Grosvenor,Reynaldo Guimet,Gary Hart,Dan Littlejohn,Mike McGowan,Hurricane Mitch,Tiko Pavoni,Carlos Ramirez,Gary Ryan,Wayne Schneiderman,Carla Sosa,Derek Whittington
Casting Department	Phyllis Karpinski
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Nicholas Blanchard,Brandon Goodman,Heather Holmes,Carolyn Schnitzer
Editorial Department	Anthony Brandonisio,Don Ciana,Will Cox,Alex Ferrari,Charlie Rokosny,Daniel Silverman,David Vendette
Location Management	Melanie Moore Barfield,Marcel Pinkowski,Sandra Woodward
Music Department	John Beal,Jim Black,Christopher Covert,Dan Evans Farkas,Lawrence Feldman,Ron Ganelli,Birch Johnson,Tony Kadleck,Jamie Lawrence,Mike Levine,Alison Miller,Jeffrey Mironov,Andy Stein
Script and Continuity Department	Carmen Soriano
Transportation Department	K.C. Colebrooke,David Hamilton,William Mac Maquez
Additional Crew	Mark Bowie,John Delia,Julie Ann Grasso,Sahar Halabi,Julio Hallivis,Lisa L. Martin,Tommee May,Michelle Mehn,Mary Kay Miller,Ross Miller,Jamie Morris,Jelena Panfilova,Daniela Ryan,Tina Schmidt,Gladys Simeon,Marc H. Simon,Adam Taylor,Yvette Zarlenga
Thanks	William A. Cimino,Corey Feldman,Barbara Jean Kearney,Susan Matheson,Scott Rose
Genres	Comedy, Drama, Romance
Companies	Basra Entertainment, Plum Pictures, SHRINK Media Inc.
Countries	USA
Languages	English
ContentRating	PG-13
ImDbRating	5.7
ImDbRatingVotes	4195
MetacriticRating	57
Keywords	based on short film,teen movie,f word,high school,bikini