"Old School" review

Old School (2003)

Directed by Todd Phillips
Writing credits Court Crandall Todd Phillips

Luke Wilson.... Mitch Martin
Will Ferrell.... Frank Ricard
Vince Vaughn.... Bernard 'Beanie' Campbell
Jeremy Piven.... Dean Gordon 'Cheese' Pritchard
Ellen Pompeo.... Nicole
Juliette Lewis.... Heidi

So Luke Wilson gets a house near a college. His buddies Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell come up with a plan to start a fraternity so he can keep the house. Then the movie kind of spins off in about ten thousand different directions. The story of old guys partying down on campus gets pushed aside for talk of divorce, infidelity, death and other somber topics that threw ice water on my genitals and stopped the laughter.

The big question is: Did I laugh during "Old School"? The answer is yes. Will Ferrell was easily the funniest guy here. Luke Wilson played the straight, boring guy and that's exactly what he was, straight and boring. Vince Vaughn had some funny spots. The cinder block scene had me laughing.

But where was the old school party madness? So these guys start a fraternity to party down. Where's the party at? I counted two. Wasn't that the point of the movie? To see 30 somethings get wild and crazy on campus? Be young! Be Free! Wasn't it? Instead there is a storyline about the dean wanting them off campus, one about a new girl in Luke Wilson's life who may or may not like him, one about Vaughn not liking marriage although we never see why as he never interacts with his wife, and many others that have nothing to do with getting drunk with college age women.

Take Will Ferrell's character. So he gets married at the beginning of the flick. Sure, we're expecting some tension between his new wife and the fraternity. So he gets drunk at a party and his wife tosses him out. Later in the movie they have a serious scene where they talk about divorce during a funeral. Now I ask you, A) Why are they getting divorced after one drunken night out? and B) Why is this scene in the movie? To show the effects of partying on 30 year old newlyweds? Why go for such a serious turn? Get back to the K-Y Jelly wrestling. Now that was a good scene.

SCORE: 2 out of 4 K-Y Jelly wrestling matches