Sorority Boys (2002)

Director:

Wallace Wolodarsky

Writers (WGA):

Joe Jarvis (written by) &
Greg Coolidge (written by)

Release Date:

22 March 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Look Closer (Not That Close)

Plot:

Three rowdy college students are kicked out of their dorm and dress up in drag to live in the DOG house, where the girls deemed unattractive live.

Plot Keywords:

Cruise | Drag | College | Sorority | Sexism

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Barry Watson	...	Dave / Daisy
Michael Rosenbaum	...	Adam / Adina
Harland Williams	...	Doofer / Roberta
Melissa Sagemiller	...	Leah
Tony Denman	...	Jimmy
Brad Beyer	...	Spence
Kathryn Stockwood	...	Patty
Heather Matarazzo	...	Katie
Yvonne Sciò	...	Frederique
Kerri Higuchi	...	Susie
Dublin James	...	Littlest Pledge
Omar Benson Miller	...	Big Johnson
Mike Beaver	...	Big Fat Frat
Rich Ronat	...	Frat
Brian Gross	...	Frat

Also Known As:

Dog Catcher (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for crude sexual content, nudity, strong language and some drug use.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Italy:T | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Janss Steps, UCLA, Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Morra, Brezner, Steinberg and Tenenbaum Entertainment (MBST)

Trivia:

The KOK alumni that are shown throughout the movie mainly consist of fraternity members from Animal House (1978). There's also a cameo by John Vernon as a nursing home patient, better known as Dean Wormer from Animal House.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Adam tries to seduce Jimmy in his room and begins screaming for Dave's help, the shot is from outside looking in through a seemingly broken window. However, when we see the inside of the room, the windows are intact. They're only broken after Jimmy is thrown out of them, not before.

Quotes:

Leah: Would you like to share something personal with the crew? Robert... Uh... Ro-berta.
"Roberta": Personal?
Leah: Mhm.
"Roberta": Well, uh, my name is Roberta, and... I'm addicted to porn and I masturbate constantly.
[silence - the sorority sisters stare at him]
"Roberta": Pillow fight! Pillow fight!

Movie Connections:

References Freddy Got Fingered (2001)

Soundtrack:

My Bad Luck

Has its moments .....

Probably the cheapest laugh in all of comedy is putting a guy in drag, hell, they were probably doing it in ancient Egypt to get Pharoah to bust a gut when nothing else worked. And in this case they've got not one but three, the first two of which are barely passable as girls and the third looking like the spitting image of the big redhead that Arnold disguises himself as in "Total Recall".

The whole plot is based on three members of Kappa Omicron Kappa (not exactly a subtly acronym) getting kicked out of their fraternity after they were set up and accused of stealing the alumni party funds. They need to sneak back in their old house to recover a videotape that will prove their innocence. Their first scheme is to dress up as girls and get in during a party, but they quickly get ejected by the "dog catcher" whose job it is to get rid of ugly girls. While still in drag, they are invited to pledge the ultra-feminist Delta Omicron Gamma sorority (another non-subtle joke) and, since they've no food, money or lodging, they accept. The rest of the movie is about their awkward attempts to keep up their ruse and fit in with a bunch of sorority girls, all the while scheming to get back that tape. Naturally, much of the laughs come as the "girls" are forced to adjust to their new roles and dealing with stuff like leg shaving and walking (badly) in heels, although in the process these formerly crude horndogs learn to start appreciating women as more than just object to either lust after (if they're hot) or make fun of (if they're not).

Fortunately, they don't get too heavy on the feminist "message" stuff, at least not enough to get in the way of the humor. And there's a fun little love twist in which one of the boys starts falling for the sorority president, Leah. Her character's a bit of a modern movie cliche, like Julia Stiles in "10 Things I Hate About You" she's supposed to be this bitchy, angry, ugly man hating feminist but is simply too good natured and good looking to really fool anyone. Of course, the twist is, as a boy (in her Women's Studies class) she hates him, but as a girl, she starts to develop feelings for "her". Naturally, once she learns the truth she's initially outraged, but seeing as this is a simple comedy and not something like "Chasing Amy", she quickly relents and all ends well. This is by no means a great comedy, it's definitely a "rent, don't buy" kind of movie, but considering I had no real expectations other that to get about 90 minutes of shut-off-your-brain entertainment, I must say it wasn't bad.

6/10