I missed Old School when it hit theaters earlier this year. I really wanted to see it because it looked hilarious. (I know the trailer is never a good indication of anything, but I was in need of a good comedy at the time I saw it and this looked like one.)The film centers around three thirty-something men: Mitch (Luke Wilson) comes home early from a business trip and finds his fiancee Heidi (Juliette Lewis) leading an orgy. Frank (Will Ferrell) has just gotten married. Beanie (Vince Vaughn) is married and has two children.
Mitch, in an effort to regain some composure following his break-up with Heidi, rents a house near a college campus. Seeing the potential for parties and possible encounters with young nubile female students, Beanie encourages Mitch to throw a huge party. Mitch-A-Palooza is one of those impossible movie-type parties with “enough electronics for a KISS concert,” according to Beanie, and Snoop Dogg as the night’s entertainment. The party instantly becomes legendary and raises the ire of the college’s dean (Jeremy Piven, who threw a similar party in 1994’s PCU.)
Dean Pritchard, who apparently was a former target of the trio’s high school pranks, vows revenge by repossessing the property on which Mitch’s house stands and thus ending the possibility for any more parties. The loophole? The house is on campus property and must be used for campus activities. Beanie comes up with the idea to create a fraternity in order to keep the party life going and the dean off their back. Of course, the dean doesn’t take this lying down and, supposedly, hilarity ensues.
Aside from Will Ferrell’s scenes, all of which are laugh-out-loud, spit-Coke-through-your-nose funny, Old School is tired and clichéd. Ferrell is the movie’s only redeeming factor. Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn look tired and possibly embarrassed to even be in this film. It’s not like I’d expect this to be Oscar-worthy material, but when two-thirds of the main cast looks like they’d rather be reading a book, it’s not really conducive to good comedy.
I won’t even get into the strange comments the film has to make on marriage or commitment. It doesn’t even seem to know what it’s trying to say. Beanie is married, wants to party, but can’t bring himself to cheat on his wife. Frank gets married and tries to suppress his former party animal tendencies but can’t, leading to a separation and eventual divorce. Mitch, who never was married, finds a girlfriend. Trust me, none of this is really ruining anything because the real draw of a film like Old School is not the plot but the juvenile humor and the umpteen shots of nude women (and Will Ferrell’s ass.) Those looking for those qualities will not be disappointed.
1.5 out of 5.0 stars
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