Old School (2003)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Todd Phillips

Writers (WGA):

Court Crandall (story) and
Todd Phillips (story) ...

Release Date:

21 February 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

All the fun of college, none of the education.

Plot:

Three men are disenchanted with life and try to recapture their college days.

Plot Keywords:

College | Fraternity | Party | Underwater | Catch Phrase

Awards:

4 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 19	8:00 PM	TBS
Sun. July 19	11:00 PM	TBS

Cast

Luke Wilson	...	Mitch Martin
Will Ferrell	...	Frank Ricard
Vince Vaughn	...	Bernard 'Beanie' Campbell
Jeremy Piven	...	Dean Gordon 'Cheese' Pritchard
Ellen Pompeo	...	Nicole
Juliette Lewis	...	Heidi
Leah Remini	...	Lara Campbell
Perrey Reeves	...	Marissa Jones
Craig Kilborn	...	Mark
Elisha Cuthbert	...	Darcie
Seann William Scott	...	Peppers
Matt Walsh	...	Walsh
Artie Lange	...	Booker
Patrick Fischler	...	Michael
Sara Tanaka	...	Megan Huang

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

91 min | 92 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (unrated version) | Finland:K-15 | Iceland:12 | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:18A (Alberta/Manitoba) | Canada:18A (Ontario) (unrated version) | Ireland:18 (extended version) | Singapore:R(A) | Malaysia:(Banned) | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R13 | Peru:14 | South Korea:18 | UK:15 | USA:R (original rating) | USA:Unrated (unrated DVD version)

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

It's somewhat ironic that Jeremy Piven plays a malicious dean. In 1994, he played the head of a similarly outrageous fraternity in PCU (1994).

Goofs:

Continuity: Frank says that he won't do the beer bong because he had a nice Saturday planned out for 'tomorrow', meaning it would be Friday. Then, the high school girl Mitch sleeps with said she has to get to class, which by then it should be Saturday. The flyers also stated that "Mitch-a-palooza" was on a Thursday night. This means the next day would be Friday.

Quotes:

Beanie: Spanish what the hell are you doing?
Spanish: I'm just going to get some water. This suit is crazy hot, yo.
Beanie: Put your head back on. That can be very traumatic for the kids.
Spanish: You're right, I'm sorry, sir.
Beanie: Don't sorry me, babe. And shake the tail when you walk. You're better than that.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Stargate SG-1: The Scourge (#9.17)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Good Lovin' Gone Bad

Not perfect, but a solid comedy

Like many others, I heard a lot of buzz about "Old School" before it was released. Things like "it's the new animal house" or "an instant classic". Well, unfortunately that didn't turn out to be the case. However, that doesn't mean its a bad movie. In fact, I loved it and would highly recommend it.

As someone in the same age group as the main characters, perhaps I related too much, but the idea is great: Three 30-something guys who are solidly on the path of a normal, mature life (marriage, kids, real job, etc...) decide to start a fraternity and recapture their college glory days. No, there's no real reason to do this, and no, its not realistic at all.

But who cares? Anyone who has ever been to a raging college party, done a few beer bongs and whippits, screamed along with some loud music, and hooked up with a random coed can immediately relate to this film. Not to mention there really are some gut-busting funny scenes throughout. Luke Wilson is the perfect actor for the steady, reserved professional guy. Will Ferrell is hilarious of course, and Vince Vaughn does what he does so well, playing the instigator trying to help a best friend have fun again. Unfortunately one of his funniest scenes only made it to the deleted scenes section of the DVD.

Which brings me to my main gripe with this movie: what was left on the cutting room floor. The deleted scenes, which can be seen on the DVD of course, aren't just trivial sections that you can understand were cut, some of them are classic. The movie was only an hour and a half long, and for the life of me I can't figure out why the 10 minutes of deleted footage didn't remain. I think some of them really would've changed the entire feel of the movie. The last act kind of changes into this "Rushmore"-ish Wes Anderson knock off, and I think at least a few of the deleted scenes would've helped it make more sense.

Despite that, this movie ranks alongside Dumb & Dumber, Meet the Parents, Kingpin, and American Pie as one of the best comedies of the last decade or so in my humble opinion. No it's not a classic, but it will stand the test of time as a very good comedy that you'll laugh at with each replay.