Old School

Returning home early from a seminar, Mitch (Wilson) finds that his girlfriend Heidi (Lewis) is having lots of affairs, all at the same time. Distraught, he moves out and rents a house on the local College campus. Seeing this as a chance to relive their youth, his best friends Beanie (Vaughn) and Frank (Ferrell) decide to make the house a new campus fraternity that anyone can join.

A movie that so wants to be the new Animal House for the 21st Century doesn't quite hit those dizzy heights but is very funny all the same.

Coming from writer/director Todd Phillips, the man who bought us Road Trip, this is a twist on the usual college gross-out movie. By putting thirty-something adults in the usual teenage roles, Old School makes the prospect of KY wrestling, fraternity initiations and showdowns with the Dean even more entertaining.

The cast is good, with Luke Wilson not having the comic timing of this brother Owen but still holding own. Vince Vaughn returns to comedy with some of his best work for a while but it is Will Ferrell that steals the entire movie. The former Saturday Night Live regular performance as Frank The Tank is laugh out loud funny in every scene. From his funeral singing, to his insistent streaking Ferrell is the constant funny bone of the movie and his performance makes it worth the admission price alone. There is also a good cameo performance by 24's Elisha Cuthbert.

The film does suffer from not expanding the roles of some of the supporting cast however, preferring to concentrate of wholly on the three leads. With a stronger supporting cast, this would have been even more funny.

While not as funny as the best College fraternity movie of all time, National Lampoon's Animal House, the film is still very amusing as it hits more times than it misses. With a plot that is never too taxing or predictable, Old School is a great popcorn comedy. Where do I pledge?

Bloopers and outtakes, 'Inside The Actors Studio' spoof, Deleted scenes, Welcome To Old School - Now Get Undressed & Nominations and Awards

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2003