Posted: 02/26/2003

Old School

(2003)

by Hank Yuloff

What if you could go back to college and get away with all the stuff you dreamed about?

It’s not Animal House, but… imagine some of the brothers from Faber College grew up and missed the old days. Friends of mine have toyed with the idea of a throwing a monthly bachelor party. (“With hookers. And guns. And Hookers. And Drugs.”) So why is the idea of grown (age-wise) men starting a fraternity so far fetched? I bet you see it happen this summer.

Old School opens with Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson) coming home early from a seminar to find his girlfriend Heidi taking part in a threesome which is the opening act for an orgy (my buddy immediately flashed on his ex-wife’s antics). Martin decides to move out and finds himself subletting a house that has been zoned for use by the neighboring University. Enter Mitch’s friend Beannie (Vince Vaughn). In what can be termed brilliant, fast thinking, Beannie strikes upon the idea of turning the house into a fraternity. With the help of rapper Snoop Dog (as himself), they throw the kickoff party of all time which sets them up as instant BMOC’s and finds Mitch in bed with a tasty little coed (Elisha Cuthbert from TV’s 24) who will get him into all sorts of trouble later.

In Animal House style, the University administration wants them to disappear and we begin our good guy versus bad guy struggle which carries our story the rest of the way.

There are several subplots which blend into the plot, making this not so much a one joke story but a continued laugh-a-thon. There’s Pledge Rush, Mitch’s love life, and a wedding, during which the Vaughn and Wilson (Legally Blond, Committed) try and talk their buddy Frank the Tank (Will Ferrell) out of marrying a woman who is just not right for him.

The acting is wonderfully comedic and nicely over the top. Vince Vaughn (Swingers, Made) is right on target as the former partier, now married with children, who is the catalyst for all the action. Ferrell (Jay and Silent Bob, Zoolander) is hillarious as the newly married hen-pecked guy who is just looking for an excuse to cut loose again. The SNL alum gets most of the physical comedy and completely pulls it off. We only see Julliette Lewis at the beginning of the movie and during the end credits, but she is captivating. We also see Seann William Scott (American Pie, Evolution) in a brief but funny role as an petting farm animal rangler. I’d also like to thank Lisa Donatz, Corinne Kingsbury and Kristina Hughes for their brief but pivotal roles as women who take off their tops.

With an R-rating (language, nudity) Old School is targeted at college aged males and those of us who used to be. This is backed up by looking at the credits and finding a part for KY Jelly Girl (see Lisa Donatz above). I think that Producer/Director/Writer Todd Phillips (Road Trip) hit a bulls eye. I’ve always noted that combination as a formula for disaster (see The American Astronaut) but Phillips did it well, with the help of a talented cast.

Old School won’t be the classic that Animal House has become. But if you like college boy antics, naked breasts, and are in the mood for a silly, funny movie, it’s definitely worth the price of books and tuition. Well, maybe just the tuition so you have an excuse to drink.

Hank Yuloff is an advertising guy in Los Angeles who never, EVER attended parties when he went to San Diego State University. He remembers college as the best 7 years of his life.

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