Ever wonder if Bluto, D-Day and Flounder would pine for their college days long after graduation?
The comedy “Old School” answers that question in a roundabout way by taking the frat film genre made famous by those crazy “Animal House” boys and sending the thirty-something versions of them back to college.
Mitch (Luke Wilson, “Legally Blonde”), Frank (Will Ferrell, “Zoolander”) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn, “Domestic Disturbance”) are three college friends who feel as if their lives have become the mundane existence they’ve always hated.
Frank has just recently gotten married. Beanie has a wife and child. Mitch’s life hits rock-bottom when he returns home early from a business trip and finds his girlfriend engaged in the type of kinky group sex they’ve always talked about.
Mitch compensates for this by buying an old house on the campus of their alma mater and both Frank and Beanie decide it is time to add some excitement back into their lives.
So, they establish a fraternity – one that accepts all ages and races, but pays no attention to acedemic or social responsibility. They throw the kind of parties that only exist in movies, have funny rush rituals (think cinder and 30 feet of rope!) and are opposed by an angry dean who used to be their geeky classmate.
In many ways, this tribute to the crazy days of “Animal House” comes closer to the level of “Van Wilder” but still has its moments. “Old School” is at its best when focusing on Ferrell’s character of Frank.
Playing an older version of John Belushi’s Bluto in “Animal House,” Ferrell brings a comic timing and large dose of immaturity that brings most of the laughs in the film. By the time he shoots himself in the neck with animal tranquilizers from a disturbed petting zoo owner (Seann William Scott in a hilarious cameo), Farrell’s “Frank the Tank” has truly distinguished himself.
Director Todd Phillips (“Road Trip”) promoted “Old School” as “all of the fun of college, none of the education,” but some moments aren’t amusing at all.
Frank may be funny when he parties and goes streaking down the road, but his antics lead to a divorce with his wife. Where’s the fun in that?
In the film’s most questionable and tasteless sequence, Mitch wakes up after one exciting party with a woman lying next to him in bed. She gets up, says she has to go to school, and kisses him on the cheek. Later Mitch realizes “school” does not refer to college, but to high school and this girl is in fact the teenager daughter of his boss.
Frat films, and all college films for that matter, capture a time when caution was thrown to the wind and when the unpredictable crazy college nights were among the best of most people’s lives. Many enjoy reliving those crazy days and that insane storm of carelessness.
For lovers of the genre, “Old School” has its moments of naughty and vulgar fun. As long as you realize there are no real redeeming values in the film and no life-changing message to leave the theater with, it’s humor might leave you longing for the good ‘ole college days – or the college days you never had.
“Old School” is rated R for some strong sexual content, nudity and language and opened last Friday.
