House Party 2

House Party 2 is a 1991 American comedy film and the sequel to the 1990 film House Party released by New Line Cinema. The film returns most of the cast of the first film such as Kid 'n Play, Full Force, Tisha Campbell, and Martin Lawrence along with new cast members such as Iman, Queen Latifah, and Georg Stanford Brown and more guest appearances by other famous entertainers, such as Tony! Toni! Toné! and Ralph Tresvant. The film is directed by Doug McHenry and George Jackson in their directorial debut.[2]

This article is about the film. For the title track from the film's soundtrack, see House Party II (I Don't Know What You Come to Do).
House Party 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDoug McHenry
George Jackson
Written byDaryl G. Nickens
Rusty Cundieff
Based onCharacters created by
Reginald Hudlin
Produced byDoug McHenry
George Jackson
Janet Grillo
Pat Golden
Suzanne Broderick
Starring
CinematographyFrancis Kenny
Edited byJoel Goodman
Music byVassal Benford
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
  • October 23, 1991 (1991-10-23)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million
Box office$19.4 million[1]

In contrast to the original, House Party 2 doesn't focus more on the party aspect of the plot. Instead, it focuses more on the characters' personal lives ranging from dating to education and career ambitions. The titular festivities, this time around, is a college pajama party instead of a high school house party.

The film is dedicated to the memory of Robin Harris, who played Pops in the first film and died nine days after the first film's release. As a result of Harris' death, his character Christopher "Pop" Robinson Sr. passed away before the events of this film.

Plot

After high school graduation and his father's passing, Kid, with scholarship money provided by the congregation of his church, goes off to college with his girlfriend, Sidney. Play, now driving a Ford Mustang instead of his beat up old wagon, meets Sheila Landreaux and her associate Rick. Really a con artist, Sheila convinces Play she is a record executive who would like to sign him, he just has to put some money down first.

Lured by dreams of stardom, Play signs over Kid's college scholarship check. Unaware of this, Kid starts school and meets his roommate Jamal Johnson, a white kid obsessed with all things Black. Kid eventually finds out what Play did and fights him. Unable to pay his tuition and enrollment fees, Kid tries to reason with the dean but is only given a week to gather the money he needs. The dean's assistant, Miles, helps Kid with an extension and a job in the dining hall, working for Mr. Lee, a man who runs the hall like a military officer.

Kid struggles having to work to pay for school as well as writing a paper for a demanding professor. To top it off, Kid is hunted by his high school bullies, Stab, Zilla, and Pee Wee, who take jobs as campus security.

Kid's perseverance pays off, and he gains the trust of Mr. Lee. Meanwhile, Play is unable to get the money back from the con artists in time to pay for Kid's tuition. Plus, Sidney breaks up with Kid and starts dating Miles, who only helped Kid in order to get close to her.

In order to raise the money he needs and win back Sidney, Kid, Play, Bilal and Jamal secretly hold a pajama themed party for the students in the faculty dining hall. For this, Kid steals the hall's key. Admission is $10 for men and free for women who wear nightwear. Campus security tries to get information on the party by pretending to be students, but their antics are unsuccessful.

The party is a success as hundreds of students turn up wearing elaborate costumes and dance the night away, including to a performance by Kid and Play.

Eventually, Play sees the con artists trying to coerce Zora, Sidney’s socially conscious roommate. Meanwhile, Kid sees Miles with Sidney trying to drug her. Kid, Play and campus security run to stop the con artists and Miles. Kid fights Miles on the roof. The dean and the police come in to stop the party. Play tells the dean that Sheila and Rick stole Kid’s check. They, along with Miles, are arrested.

The dean tells Kid, Play, Bilal, and Jamal to clean up the hall, or they will face expulsion. Kid gives the money to Mr. Lee for the damages. With all of his options exhausted, Kid still has to drop out of school.

Meanwhile, Play sells his car. Kid goes to his father's grave to try and sort things out. He then heads back to his dorm room to move his things out. Play then arrives in his beat up old wagon, and gives Kid money, feeling guilty about using the check. Kid wants to go out and celebrate with him and Bilal, but Play tells him to hit the books. He also says he is gonna visit the university periodically, seeing as Kid is his "investment" now, before driving off to the sunset.

Cast

Music

Soundtrack
Main article: House Party 2 (soundtrack)

A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on October 15, 1991 by MCA Records. It peaked at 55 on the Billboard 200 and 23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, becoming the most successful of the House Party soundtracks.

Reception

Box office

The movie debuted at No.1 at the box office.[3]

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 27% based on reviews from 15 critics.[4]

Sequel

A sequel to the film, titled House Party 3, was released on January 12, 1994.

References
  1. "House Party 2". Box Office Mojo. IMDB.
  2. "House Party 2". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  3. Fox, David J. (1991-10-29). "Weekend Box Office 'House Party 2' Takes Top Spot". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-12.
  4. "House Party 2". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
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