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Despite the best efforts of such recent flops as Dude, Where's My Car? and Freddy Got Fingered, it seems that the American "gross-out" flick is still refusing to go away quietly. So, get ready for the next American Pie wannabe... |
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Despite the best efforts of such recent flops as Dude, Where's My Car? and Freddy Got Fingered, it seems that the American "gross-out" flick is still refusing to go away quietly. So, get ready for the next American Pie wannabe... |
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What's the Plot?
True friends remain together through all
that life can throw at them. Mitch ( Luke Wilson), Frank ( Will Ferrell ) and Beanie
( Vince Vaughn ) now find themselves at a very dangerous time of
their lives indeed: the thirty-something years! Beanie has a successful company that he built up
from scratch and also has a wife and 2 kids that have restricted his life
somewhat - hence his words of wisdom to his friend, Frank, at the alter as
he awaits his bride-to-be, Marissa ( Perrey Reeves ) - " Don't do it
!". Mitch is now single since he came home early from a course o find his
partner, Heidi ( Juliette Lewis) involved in a threesome but his friends
believe that he's landed on his feet when he finds a new house just off of
campus. Beanie is certain that being so close to a University that he, Frank and Mitch
will be able to re-live their youth again but armed this time with years of experience.
However, the University's Dean ( Jeremy Piven) was a child that the three friends picked on
many years back, and is still bitter enough to try everything to push the guys off campus. The
only way to stay is through a loop-hole in University policy and start their own fraternity -
all good and well except that they're at least 10
years too late...
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The Review Ever since the Farrelly Brothers single-handedly re-invented the gross-out comedy genre, all other attempts have felt rather flat in comparison. One of the main problems seems to be obtaining enough OTT jokes to fill an average running time of a movie, and have them be funny as well. Dumb And Dumber and There's Something About Mary achieved this partly because the films weren't afraid to take shots at anyone hence the abundance of sick, but nonetheless funny, gags. Old School is somewhat lacking in the balls department, leaving only a feeling of a halfhearted attempt to make people laugh by raiding other movies for inspiration: the wedding singer at Frank's evening reception has more than a passing resemblance to The Wedding Singer with his foul-mouthed version of "Total Eclipse Of The Heart"; 2 naked women mud wrestling one of the down-trodden heroes a la Stripes; all the unlikely tasks set for the fraternity members to pass ( fat bloke having to vault over gym equipment nods at the Revenge Of The Nerds films; Frank being hit by a tranquillizer dart sees a Jim Ace Ventura Carrey impersonation as he tries to keep upright during a child's birthday party.
What really lets the film down is the waste of
talent that's up on the screen. Vaughn shone in the comedies Swingers
and Made and although he still has that cheeky quality straining to get through,
the lack of any good or interesting dialogue leaves him floundering with
nothing to say or do except the odd moments like coughing his disapproval
at his friends wedding.
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Wilson who is no stranger to comedies also - Legally Blonde and The Royal Tenenbaums - has the bog standard "normal guy" role compared to the others so gets even less than Vaughn and Ferrell in the laugh stakes. There are some moments of possible glory - a fraternity test where all the men have breeze blocks tied to their private parts and have to drop them off a ledge and the guys all doing a "team spirit" presentation by all trying to do a cheerleading demonstration - but not enough to fill the movie's long running time. Very disappointing.
OSCAR SCORE
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Copyright © Steve Murphy 2003
