Gleefully Streaking Down Imbecile Road
Main Cast: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn
Director: Todd Phillips
Sometimes I need stupid. I mean really need it. My brain is tired; I just want to be mindlessly entertained for a while. The major stumbling block in achieving this nirvana is that most movies that qualify as stupid are not at all entertaining. The trick is to find one that both lets your IQ linger in the mid 80’s throughout, yet still serves its primary function as a recreational tool. In other, smaller, words, it needs to be funny. I can’t even remember the last time that happened with the kind of success achieved by the 2003 release Old School.
Old School opens with one of our heroes (a term I use in the loosest possible way) Mitch (Luke Wilson) arriving home early to find his live in girlfriend Heidi (Juliette Lewis) indulging in, shall we say, some extracurricular activities involving several other people and blindfolds. While Mitch’s friends think this may be a good and interesting development, Mitch is a more traditional guy, and moves out of his house and into a rental property on the campus of the nearby university.
Meanwhile, we are introduced to Frank (Will Farrell) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn). Frank is getting married to Marissa (Perrey Reeves) and while at the altar waiting for the bride, Beanie harangues Frank to get out now, pointing to his own life with wife and kids as a good reason to stay single. The wedding proceeds, despite Beanie’s objections and Mitch’s drunken funk.
Soon enough, Beanie (always the schemer) sees the possibilities of Mitch’s new abode. A party house, like when they were in college. A place to go to get away from their real lives. And help Mitch get back on his feet of course. The stumbling block comes in the form of Dean Pritchard (Jeremy Piven) who knows our boys from their college days, holds them in supreme contempt (while really just being jealous) and re-zones the house for University use only.
From this is born the idiotic/brilliant idea of turning the house into a fraternity. As Mitch is a lawyer, he finds loopholes to make this feasible despite none of the three being students. From this point on, the movie is a series of gags involving pledges, women, campus politics, beer, and relationships. There is a subplot involving Mitch and his attempt to establish a relationship with the nubile Nicole (Ellen Pompeo), as well as one involving Frank’s less than ideal marriage, but these are really no more than minor interludes in the ongoing stupidity.
So, really, how could a high-minded movie consumer such as myself be sucked in by such inane drivel? Easy. Old School is just damn funny. I laughed out loud more times than I can count, a rare thing indeed these days. There is virtually no message here. They don’t even try. And therein lies the beauty. What we have here is a series of short gags with hilarious payoffs and a few running gags that amazingly don’t get used to the point of becoming groan-worthy.
Each of the three principal characters is a walking, talking caricature. We know people like them, but these guys are head and shoulders more stupid, obnoxious, and immature than any actual person (I hope). Frank simply can’t wrap his mind around the idea of being married. One minute he’s looking forward to that trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond, the next he’s doing beer bongs in the frat kitchen with college students. Frank’s defining scene comes early on and involves one very naked 30-something man running through a college campus. Frank never truly moved past those college days, and reverting is really just a matter of a little temptation and, of course, that beer bong.
Beanie is married with kids. He’s an extraordinarily successful businessman. He’s also a scheming hot head. But a lovable scheming hot head. It’s Beanie who really pushes the idea of the fraternity, as well as the idea of having a place to escape from life in the form of Mitch’s house. Beanie’s defining scene is any one in which he is touting the spectacular benefits of partying until dawn while carrying a baby in a Snugglie.
And then we have Mitch. Mitch is more or less our straight man. Not as manic as either Frank or Beanie, he is somewhat caught in their energy and, being generally mild mannered, goes with the flow. He isn’t the instigator of any of the shenanigans, but willingly participates. Mitch’s defining scene is when he begins ordering those in his office to perform fraternity related tasks and yells at his boss to get off his back, all with good results.
Where most straight up comedy fails is that the central gag gets old and is over used until it’s no longer funny. Old School avoids this trap by including peripheral situations and characters to ease that central premise into the background just enough to keep it fresh.
The humor is not at all cerebral. It isn’t “chuckle appreciatively”, it’s “laugh until soda comes out your nose”. But be careful, because that smarts. Among the more successful short, almost skit-like gags are an especially aged pledge named Blue (Patrick Cranshaw), a debate scene featuring a short cameo appearance by James Carville, and a stirring rendition of Dust in the Wind.
All three lead performances are strong and funny. Luke Wilson as Mitch is pathetic, sad, and yet projects the most sanity in the group. Wilson does a great job of being the straight, but not too straight, man. His droopy puppy eyes at the beginning turning into something akin to a sincere effort to do the right thing by the end are played off nicely against the other characters.
Will Farrell is the most flagrant boob in the bunch. Farrell plays almost entirely for laughs and delivers a remarkably high percentage of the time. His character teeters on the edge of being over used, but manages to stay pretty funny throughout. Vince Vaughn as Beanie is quite a surprise. He does a great job here, perhaps the best of the three. He gives the blustering Beanie just the right touch of sweetness to make you love him rather than want to hurl something at the screen every time he appears. Considering the nature of the character, this is no mean feat.
Director and co-writer (with Scot Armstrong) Todd Phillips turns out a surprisingly funny, albeit entirely moronic, comedy in Old School. This is not a movie to watch if you’re in the mood for character development, complex stories, or sophistication of any kind whatsoever. You probably also want to stay away if vulgar, sophomoric humor offends you on some basic level. It’s a movie to watch when you need stupid. And, sometimes, don’t all of us need just a little bit of stupid? I thought so. When that’s your mood, Old School should fit like a glove.
Sue reads a lot, writes a lot, edits a lot, and loves a good craft. She was deemed “too picky” to proofread her children’s school papers and wears this as a badge of honor. She is also proud of her aggressively average knitting skills She is the Editorial Director at Silver Beacon Marketing and an aspiring Crazy Cat Lady.
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