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Shelf Beauties
by Willie Waffle
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Accepted
Justin Long
stars as Bartleby Gaines - a smart kid who is a bit of a screwball.
Instead of working hard on his grades and studies, he uses his
intelligence to get into trouble
and mock authority. Now
a senior, Bartleby hasn't been accepted to any college, and doesn't
want to the lose the respect of his strict father, Jack (Mark Derwin). With no other options
available to him, Bartleby teams up with his pal, Sherman
(Jonah Hill) to create their own college complete with letterhead and a
functional web site that admits anyone who applies.
Before you know it, Bartleby and Sherman start
receiving tuition money from other high school seniors who have no
other college to turn to, because that functional web site has granted
admission to hundreds of fellow screwballs and kids who just
don’t fit in anywhere else.
When Bartleby decides to run the college on his own terms, will the students and
parents be happy, or call him a fraud and demand their money back?
Accepted is
cut from the same cloth as Animal
House or Caddyshack,
but is far from being as
good or funny. It
follows a very new attitude about comedy that insists silly,
different and stupid is funny on its own, instead of being as pathetic as you and I
know it to be. Kids
who saw the movie with me were like Beavis and Butthead as
they laughed at absurd attempts at comedy while saying things like, "he said
'wiener' ha-ha," so I guess someone is going to like it.
Funny dialogue
is replaced with characters so outrageous and too dumb to live
that
you are more likely to find them at your local mental hospital than any
high school or college. We have the fat kid who
acts silly (because fat is supposed tobe funny), a Napoleon
Dynamite rip off (because stupid is supposed to be funny), some strippers
(because big boobs and stupid are supposed to be funny), the beautiful prom
queen who sees something special in our goofy leader (Monica played by Blake
“WAAAAAAY too talented and beautiful for this
movie” Lively) and the
skateboard dudes who defy life and limb (because stoned is supposed to
be
funny, OK maybe it is). Do
you feel an uplifting speech about how all of the kids who
don’t fit in are just as worthy as everyone else? Yet, through it all,
Long sets himself
apart as a shining star.
No matter how dumb or unfunny I found Accepted,
I was impressed with Long's ability to
channel Vince Vaughn and classic Chevy
Chase to be the smart, funny guy who is
always a step ahead of the rest of us.
He has charm, the personality of a likable
mischievous guy and great comic timing that you don't see anyone else in the
movie display. Who
knew the Mac computer kid from the Mac
commercials could be so funny?
Let’s hope Lively and Long look back on this film years from
now as one of those ones they did
for the cash and exposure, while kids who have never seen Animal House,
Porky’s,
Caddyshack,
Stripes,
or Old
School have a movie for themselves
(because none of us want to buy a ticket).
½ Waffle (Out Of 4)
Copyright 2006 - WaffleMovies.com
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