Starring Steven J. Kaplan and William H. Macy. Rated PG. Opens Friday, May 1, at the Cinemark Tinseltown

We never get to know the fellow mentioned in the title Bart Got a Room. He’s just someone so incredibly lame that if you’re not doing better than him, you have no reason to live.

Such melodramatic reasoning fits the film’s actual hero, Danny (Steven J. Kaplan), a Florida high-school senior whose prom plans cause much grief at home and considerable laughter for the rest of us.

He’s the class president and lead trumpet in the school band, which plays swing favourites (for the soundtrack too), but Danny has other problems. His parents are getting divorced and are themselves looking for dating advice. Again, we profit from his misery, since mom is played by Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Cheryl Hines and dad is William H. Macy, even mousier than usual in a ratty Jewfro and pale leisure suits. (He looks like Lou Reed retired to Miami Beach.)

For the moment, though, his main concern is finding someone hot for the big dance, especially because of those post-prom festivities at the hotel. (You heard about Bart?) Everyone expects Danny to take his closest gal pal (Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat), but he’d prefer the blond cheerleader next door (Ashley Benson), or anyone he hasn’t known since kindergarten.

We all know where that’s heading, and much else is obvious in the heavily John Hughes–inspired aspects of the tale, written and directed by Brian Hecker, who grew up in this heavily Judaic part of the U.S. The fun is in how Hecker sets his scenes and lets the actors go. The 80-minute film hasn’t got much depth, but its style makes it worth taking for a spin. Just be sure to have it home by midnight.