Old School Starring Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn Directed by Todd Phillips Rated R for some strong sexual content, nudity and language **1/4 out of **** Stars, Movie Grade: C+

Theatrical Release: February 21, 2003
Running time: 91 minutes

by Kevin Lang

I liked the initial idea for "Old School." A group of thirty-something guys start a fraternity. The trouble with the movie was that the filmmakers failed to successfully utilize this idea to create a film that was funny and original throughout. The story evolved into the typical college movie, where the fraternity members have to beat the pompous dean, who is trying to shut down their fraternity. Think "Animal House" but with older guys, and not nearly as good.

The first hour of the film did show some promise. Initially, we watched Mitch (Luke Wilson) discover his wife (Juliette Lewis) having an orgy in their bedroom, which prompted him to movie out, and into a house in the middle of a local college town. His friends saw this as a great opportunity to revive their younger days. Some of these scenes made me laugh quite a bit, especially listening to a not so typical wedding singer at Frank's (Will Ferrell) wedding reception.

I wasn't expecting a lot, but I wanted more from this film. As a result of his partying, Frank's wife ended up wanting a divorce after several weeks of marriage. Frank let the marriage go in favor of the fraternity and subsequently divorced his wife. I found Frank to be funny, especially in a scene from the previews involving a tranquilizer dart. However, I didn't want to see him throw his new life down the drain for a frat, even if it was a mindless comedy. I went in to watch this movie playfully imagining what would happen if my friends and I started up our own frat, and I definitely couldn't see taking things that far. Maturity would have to step in at some point.

In the end, "Old School" offered an original idea that ended up like almost every other film across its genre, a bunch of guys fighting to keep their fraternity. Only, in "Old School," the filmmakers seemed to forget that these weren't a group of college students. These were grown men. The filmmakers failed to utilize this point enough in the story, and as a result, they failed to realize the full comedic potential of the film.

"Old School" Review written February 19, 2003, CTF.

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