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"How Many Body Fluids
Can You Fit In A School
Name?" |
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Directed by Steve Pink -
Written by Adam Cooper,
Bill Collage
Starring Justin Long,
Jonah Hill, Blake
Lively, Lewis Black, Ann
Cusack
Distributed by Universal -
2006 - 90mins - Rated
PG13 |
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Richard Propes'
Review
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C+ |
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Reject rejection. |
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Neither as bad as one
might expect nor as fulfilling as its initial promise, "Accepted"
joins a long line of modestly entertaining films finding hilarity in
the lives of underachieving, slacker college students.
The feature film directing debut of Steve Pink, who co-wrote "Grosse
Point Blank" and "High Fidelity," "Accepted" stars Justin Long ("Dodgeball:
A True Underdog Story" and "Waiting") as Bartleby. Bartleby, who is
known by virtually everyone as "B," finds himself rejected by every
college to which he's applied and facing the wrath of his parents
(played by Ann Cusack and Mark Derwin). "B" ends up altering one of
his rejection letters and turning it into an acceptance letter from
the fictitious "South Harmon Institute of Technology" (Yes, I am
assuming you get the acronym here). One thing leads to another and,
well, surely by now you get where this story is going.
There's little, if anything, original about "Accepted," as Pink and
screenwriters Adam Cooper and Bill Collage ("New York Minute" and the
upcoming "Get Smart") basically do a spin-off of virtually every other
similarly themed film including "Animal House," "Old School" and the
Jeremy Piven flick, "PCU." Heck, there's even a little bit of "Orange
County" thrown in for good measure.
"B" is joined in his masquerade by the scene-stealing Jonah Hill as
Sherman, his rotund best friend who has already been accepted to the
very real Harmon College. Hill ("Grandma's Boy" and "Click"), has the
vast majority of the film's one-liners, and his naturally deadpan,
self-deprecating humor is awkwardly funny yet sympathetic. Comedian
Lewis Black is well cast as a burned-out academic brought in to serve
as Dean at South Harmon.
Other supporting characters really aren't given as much to do, but do
the best they can with the material. Adam Herschman, reminiscent of
"Booger" from "Revenge of the Nerds," is irreverent and energetic as
an outcast wannabe chef, while Maria Thayer ("Storytelling" and
"Strangers with Candy") is serenely funny as a student whose entire
approach to academia is, well, practically meditative.
Cusack and Derwin function well as B's parents, while the young Hannah
Marks isn't given nearly enough to do as B's sister. Blake Lively
("Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants") brings a nice humanity to her
role as Monica, despite the role's fairly caricaturish approach to her
hottie cheerleader who suddenly finds herself interested in B (Anyone
thinking about Betty from "Revenge of the Nerds?").
While the film is infinitely predictable, Long has a friendly,
appealing presence reminiscent of Jeremy Piven's performance in "PCU."
While the situations are absolutely implausible, it's always hard to
begrudge the feel-good, warm and fuzzy nature of these "it's okay to
be different" films. The film's ending is a bit of a cop-out
considering the overall irreverence of the rest of the film, but the
cast livens it up enough to make it a tolerable ending to a
surprisingly funny film.
"Accepted" offers a killer soundtrack featuring music by The Pixies,
Green Day, and other contemporary alternative bands. "Accepted"
certainly will not win any awards, but it further affirms the
possibility of promising careers for Long, Hill and Lively.
Acronym references aside, "Accepted" is a fairly safe flick for teens
and may be a great beginning to discussions about college,
expectations and the parent/child relationship that can become so
stressful in the teen years.
While "Accepted" certainly doesn't break any new ground, it certainly
is, for lack of a better term, an acceptable way to spend a Saturday
afternoon.
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© Written by Richard Propes -
Email Me! |
TC Candler's Comment
Enjoyable
enough to earn a mild recommendation.
"Accepted" is an extremely silly and totally
pointless exercise in generating laughs... and
there are enough of them to make the time
worthwhile. Also, the film is generous
enough to completely exploit the lovely assets
of Diora Baird -- a treat that earns this film
an extra half a star.
Jacob Hall's
Comment
n/a
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