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Old School
Todd Phillips, the creative force behind the Hangover franchise. showed his penchant for over-the-top comedy long before with a rowdy little comedy from 2003 called Old School that borrows liberally from comedies of the past but still manages to deliver the laughs.
Luke Wilson stars as Mitch Martin, a guy who leaves his cheating wife and rents a house on a college campus. His buddies, the long married Bernie (Vince Vaughn) and the recently married Frank (Will Ferrell) decide to use the house as an opportunity to re-live their college days but the Dean (Jeremy Piven) orders the house is only to be used for college oriented activities so the guys decide decide to turn the house into a fraternity, allowing anyone they want to pledge.
Anyone who has seen films like Animal House or Revenge of the Nerds will be as familiar with the goings-on here as Phillips and his co-screenwriters seemed to be when they put this story together. Three guys become the spiritual gurus of a bunch of misfit oddballs and inexplicably making them the kings of the campus while giving constant headache to various college administrators, doing whatever they can to put a stop them, but just aren't able to do it.
Needless to say, the various party scenes provide the lion's share of the laughs here...Will Ferrell's drunken streaking expedition seems somewhat dated in 2018, but for some reason, it's still really funny. A KY wrestling match with two well built females and an 89-year old pledge is also really funny. Somehow in the middle of all this, Mitch's re-connection with a girl he he crushed on in college (Ellen Pompeo) never fades into the woodwork.
The film is packed with future stars...Pompeo would shortly find fame as the star of Grey's Anatomy and Piven would soon get his 15 minutes as Eli Gold on the HBO series Entourage. Perry Reeves, who plays Ferrell's wife here, would end up playing Piven's wife on Entourage. There's also a very funny cameos by Andy Dick and Seann Wlliam Scott. Wilson is a perfect straight man for all the craziness and Vince Vaughn has some fun moments too, but Will Ferrell easily steals the show as the wildly insecure and slightly maniacal Frank. It's not anywhere near as funny as the films that inspired it, but the laughs are there.
Todd Phillips, the creative force behind the Hangover franchise. showed his penchant for over-the-top comedy long before with a rowdy little comedy from 2003 called Old School that borrows liberally from comedies of the past but still manages to deliver the laughs.
Luke Wilson stars as Mitch Martin, a guy who leaves his cheating wife and rents a house on a college campus. His buddies, the long married Bernie (Vince Vaughn) and the recently married Frank (Will Ferrell) decide to use the house as an opportunity to re-live their college days but the Dean (Jeremy Piven) orders the house is only to be used for college oriented activities so the guys decide decide to turn the house into a fraternity, allowing anyone they want to pledge.
Anyone who has seen films like Animal House or Revenge of the Nerds will be as familiar with the goings-on here as Phillips and his co-screenwriters seemed to be when they put this story together. Three guys become the spiritual gurus of a bunch of misfit oddballs and inexplicably making them the kings of the campus while giving constant headache to various college administrators, doing whatever they can to put a stop them, but just aren't able to do it.
Needless to say, the various party scenes provide the lion's share of the laughs here...Will Ferrell's drunken streaking expedition seems somewhat dated in 2018, but for some reason, it's still really funny. A KY wrestling match with two well built females and an 89-year old pledge is also really funny. Somehow in the middle of all this, Mitch's re-connection with a girl he he crushed on in college (Ellen Pompeo) never fades into the woodwork.
The film is packed with future stars...Pompeo would shortly find fame as the star of Grey's Anatomy and Piven would soon get his 15 minutes as Eli Gold on the HBO series Entourage. Perry Reeves, who plays Ferrell's wife here, would end up playing Piven's wife on Entourage. There's also a very funny cameos by Andy Dick and Seann Wlliam Scott. Wilson is a perfect straight man for all the craziness and Vince Vaughn has some fun moments too, but Will Ferrell easily steals the show as the wildly insecure and slightly maniacal Frank. It's not anywhere near as funny as the films that inspired it, but the laughs are there.