'Old School'

Inside March 11, 2003's Issue

-Entertainment-

99x's Live X 8

'Old School' brings laughs, not a lot else

By Daniel Bell
Editor

Ever so often a life-changing movie comes along and sweeps the awards shows.Movies like "The Hours" and "Chicago" did just that this year.

But there are few men who weren't dragged kicking and screaming to see either of these flicks. To solve this anti-guy movie movement, along comes "Old School."

This R-Rated film starring Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson is full of gratuitous nudity, strong sexual humor and immature men drinking beer, which means it has all the makings of the perfect guy movie.

The plot goes something like this: A trio of thirty-something-year-old, post-collegiate men bored with their lives decide to start their own fraternity and hilarity ensues.
Snoop Dogg does a cameo in the film "Old School"
It all starts when lawyer Mitch Martin (Wilson) buys a house in the middle of a college campus. After an enormous house-warming party angers the dean, he decides to evict Mitch on the grounds that students must inhabit the house since it is on university property.

To dodge the eviction Mitch, Beanie (Vaughn) and Frank (Ferrell) convert the home into a frat house and recruit a motley group of students and non-students alike, including an 89-year-old man, and make them pledge their new fraternity.

As is stereotypical fraternity life, the movie is over-flowing with macho drinking, wild partying and lots of swearing.

The thirty-something-year-olds of today will feel nostalgic for their college days, while the kids of today will feel nostalgic for last weekend.

What the story lacks in tone, seriousness or award-winning potential, it more than makes up for in gut-busting comedy, college-themed debauchery and a list of outstanding cameos (Snoop Dogg, Craig Kilborn, Andy Dick, Sean William Scott, Juliette Lewis and more all make appearances).

Although most members of the female gender will not go anywhere near this movie, guys will love Vaughn, Ferrell and Wilson playing the roles most men only dream of taking on. For "Saturday Night Live" star Ferrell, being funny is second nature. Those who remember Vaughn in "Swingers" can expect the same laughs produced from this fast-talking funny man.

Couple all this with an awesome soundtrack and moviegoers will find a fraternity-themed movie that's not quite "Animal House" but not worth missing.

The only downside is that some of the gratuitous nudity is not done by perky coeds but by a pasty-white Ferrell running around in the nude.

But this can be overlooked, and "Old School" still should be considered one the funnier movies of the year.