Old School (2003) Movie Information:

Old School (2003) Directed by: Todd Phillips Old School (2003) Written by: Scot Armstrong, Todd Phillips, Court Crandall Old School (2003) Cast: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Piven, Ellen Pompeo, Juliette Lewis, Leah Remini, Perrey Reeves, Craig Kilborn, Elisha Cuthbert

Old School (2003) U.S. Distributor: Dreamworks SKG Old School (2003) U.K. Distributor: UIP

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Old School (2003) Synopsis:

A trio of twenty something buddies tries to recapture the outrageous, irrepressible fun of their college years by starting their own off-campus frat house. Mitch, Frank and Beanie have all reached a crossroads in their lives. They can choose to be responsible adults, with wives, families and steady jobs--or they can postpone adulthood in favor of the reckless abandon of frat house living with all the fun and none of the education. No contest.

Old School (2003) Movie Review:

The team (Todd Phillips & Ivan Reitman) who brought us the amusing college comedy Road Trip (2000), now delivers their sophomore film Old School. The story follows three down on their luck thirty-year-olds that start up a fraternity to regain their glory as young party animals. There is Mitch (Wilson), who is the quiet one that recently caught the love of life involved in unbelievable sexual acts. Frank (Ferrell) a recently married, accidental prone being who doesn't have a high tolerance for alcohol. Beanie is the instigator of the group that it is constantly harping on the issues of his wife and kids, even though he loves them more than anything. Mitch's newly rented college-campus home is turned into the frat house, in which any one can join the fraternity even if they don't go to college. The film turns into a typical college genre comedy that contains crude and sexual humor, and ultimately the characters having to either grow up or keep their college reality.

Old School isn't nearly as funny or wacky as past college comedies like Road Trip, but it is one goofy movie. The concept of three thirty year old dummies starting up a fraternity is a concept that I found humorously original. I could actually see a group of guys doing this but the reality of having a fraternity like the one in Old School is very unlikely.

Todd Phillips seems to be the guy that is going to be a traditional college comedy director. Phillips atmosphere and comedy in Old School and Road Trip connects with the college movie-going crowd. When Road Trip came out I was still an undergraduate in college and I thought that it was a laugh fest. Now when I watch it, it is still funny, but not the same. College comedies are of course better when you are young or in college. However, when you get out into the real world and reality slaps you in the face, you in a sense grow out of college comedy genres unless they are something really original. I still enjoy Road Trip and believe that The Revenge of the Nerds (1984) and National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) are two of the best comedies of all time. Phillips is a writer/director that knows this genre very well. Though a lot of his plot points are derived or duplicated from other films, as long as he continues to conceive silly plot lines, like thirty year olds starting a fraternity, he will continue to exceed.

Luke Wilson is the more of the subtle of the Wilson brothers (the other is Shanghai Knights' (2003) Owen Wilson). As Mitch, Wilson continues to show that he is able to lead in a film, but his lack of big sparks still might hold him back to supporting roles. Vince Vaughn delivers one of his better performances as the baby totting party animal Beanie. The clicks of this character resemble Vaughn's past work in the great film Swingers (1996). Will Ferrell really steals this movie as the careless and forgetful Frank. Ferrell, who is the best thing on Saturday Night Live these days, just has a natural ability to make people laugh. His verbal and physical body cues carry this film's funniest moments. Ellen Pompeo, who was so wonderful in Moonlight Mile (2002), continues to show her range as an up-and-coming actress as Mitch's love interest. There are also many funny cameos in this film, which include ones by American Pie (1999)'s Seann William Scott and Andy Dick.

Old School is a stupid, but funny college comedy that has an original plot line. In the future, the DVD of this film will be playing during many college parties. Its crude humor isn't over the top like the recent National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002) or Jackass: The Movie (2002), but isn't laugh a minute fun like American Pie or Scary Movie (2000).

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Old School (2003) review written by: Bailey Henderson