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The new Netflix teen comedy “Incoming” (now streaming) feels like filmmaking brothers Dave and John Chernin (the nepo baby sons of media baron Peter Chernin who are making their feature debut after creating the Fox sitcom “The Mick” and serving as writers and producers on FX’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) took what I suspect are their favorite flicks from the subgenre (among them “Dazed and Confused,” “Can’t Hardly Wait,” “Superbad,” “Project X” (2012) and “Good Boys”), placed them in a blender, hit puree and wound up with a concoction that lacks in personality and laughs when compared to its forbears.
Incoming freshmen Benj Nielsen (Mason Thames of “The Black Phone”), Eddie (Ramon Reed), Connor (Raphael Alejandro) and Danah “Koosh” Koushani (Bardia Seiri) are learning how to navigate the waters of high school. Benj’s sophomore sister Alyssa (Ali Gallo), fresh off a nose job and looking to reconnect with her ex-girlfriend, wants nothing to do with her baby bro. He in turn has the hots for her bestie Bailey (Isabella Ferriera).
Koosh must earn his nickname in the opinion of his big man on campus big brother Kayvon (Kayvan Shai) in a bit recalling “The Stiffmeister” shtick from “American Pie.” Kayvon’s throwing a back-to-school bash and Koosh is allowed a single plus-one, which winds up being Benj, who’s looking to hook up with Bailey and avoid fall out from a fraudulent drug deal perpetrated by his senior carpool buddy Ruby (Thomas Barbusca). Koosh has creepier intentions falsely locking upperclassman Gabrielle (Victoria Moroles) in his basement for a hot tub and a massage after surveilling her on security cameras like he’s Dennis Reynolds from “It’s Always Sunny” or a baby Matt Lauer.
After being excluded from the shindig, Eddie and Connor opt to steal a Tesla belonging to Eddie’s Mom’s douchey boyfriend Dennis (Scott MacArthur) so they can get Pinkberry. The duo wind up outside Kayvon’s party where they’re mistaken for an Uber driver by Katrina Aurienna (singer-songwriter and social media influencer Loren Gray), the most popular girl in school who’s drunk as a skunk.
Other adults in the flick include Ms. Nielsen (Kaitlin Olson), Benj and Alyssa’s mother, and Mr. Studebaker (Bobby Cannavale), Benj’s chemistry teacher.
Strangely, “Incoming” is simultaneously woke and wild. I do applaud the filmmakers for giving us a more diverse cast of characters than we would’ve gotten back in the 1980s or 1990s. Maybe I’m just getting old or am a square, but seeing Cannavale’s character act a fool amongst his students with zero recourse (aside from being set ablaze and a mid-credits stinger) or spotting a freshman snorting ketamine off a senior’s belly made me uncomfortable. The comedic centerpiece of the picture involves an alcohol and Taco Bell-fueled diarrhea explosion in the Tesla’s back seat (Take that, Elon!), but it ain’t funny – it’s a gag that made me gag.
A lot of these young actors do a nice job and are likable screen presences (I especially dug Thames, Alejandro and Ferriera), but they would’ve benefitted from better and funnier material. Ultimately, “Incoming” offers a reunion between the Chernin brothers and their “The Mick” cast members Olson, MacArthur and Barbusca and little else.