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 I
never thought I'd say this, but where the heck is Tom Green when
you need him? Okay, so he isn't exactly a box office draw (especially
after his disastrous directorial debut Freddy Got Fingered),
but let's face it; his glorified cameo in 2000's Road Trip
did help make the film a better-than-average, laugh-out-loud college
comedy.
Well, not only is Green missing from director Todd Phillips'
follow-up, Old School, but most of the time, so are the
laughs. Sloppy, uninspired and mean-spirited in the extreme, this
lame excuse to cash in on the spring break crowd is nothing more
than a weak Animal House-wannabe that just doesn't make
the grade.
Thirty-something college buddies Mitch (Luke Wilson), Frank (Will
Ferrell) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn) are at a crossroads in their
lives. Beanie is an audio equipment dealer who longs for his bachelorhood,
Frank is having second thoughts about his recent nuptials and
Mitch has just learned the truth about his kinky live-in girlfriend.
In an effort to get their lives back on track, they set out to
recapture the glory days of their youth the only way that they
know how: by starting their own off-campus fraternity where anyone
can join.
The casting of polar opposites like Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn
and Will Ferrell may seem a bit unconventional--even for a supposedly
outrageous comedy like this--but the chemistry that they share
is one of the film's saving graces. Vaughn channels the cocky
arrogance that made him a star in 1996's Swingers, and
he's the perfect foil for Wilson, whose likable, middle-of-the-road
self-deprecation makes him an unlikely hero in the eyes of his
pledges (who refer to him as The Godfather).
Longtime SNL stalwart Ferrell pulls out all the stops
in an attempt to draw the film's biggest laughs, but there's only
so much he can do with the second-rate material he has to work
with. It's also worth mentioning that college students expecting
lots of T&A should be warned; Ferrell's oversized butt gets
more screen time than any of the scantily-clad women featured
throughout the movie.
Despite their underwritten roles, the supporting players make
the most of their performances. Moonlight Mile's Ellen
Pompeo is charming enough as Wilson's potential love interest,
while The Late, Late Show's Craig Kilborn is surprisingly
effective as her insensitive boyfriend. Finally, in a bit of inspired
casting, Jeremy Piven plays the stuffy, uptight dean of the university,
which is a far cry from the elder frat boy he played in 1993's
hilarious, underrated college comedy P.C.U.
Director Todd Phillips tries to raise the bar from Road Trip
by injecting Old School with a fair amount of heart, charm
and plenty of cameos (from none other than rapper Snoop Dogg and
American Pie guy Seann William Scott), but when all is
said and done, he gets a "B" for effort and a "D"
for execution. Sure, Old School has its moments, but not
enough of them; it's rushed, forced and contrived, and it's nowhere
near as funny as last year's superior, shoulda-been-a-hit college
comedy National Lampoon's Van Wilder.
Then again, maybe I'm being too harsh. After all, how do you
criticize a movie where Will Ferrell runs down the street totally
naked while screaming at the top of his lungs? At times like this,
I thought I really was watching a Tom Green movie!
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