Are You With Us?: Old School
By Ryan Mazie
February 25, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
I remember seeing Old School before and laughing non-stop. A TV movie staple and a DVD that seems to be in most people’s collections, it has been quite some time since I last saw the comedy.
And what a difference “quite some time” can make.
Maybe it was because I knew the plot and therefore some of the best jokes ahead of time, but unlike the countless repeat views I get from some comedies, Old School just did not make me laugh as much this go-around.
One of the earlier Frat Pack films, Old School has the unique twist on the stale genre by having the leads be a decade-some years older than the usual college student. While not much of a game changer, it is enough of a differentiator to set the film apart.
Before the movie becomes a funny exercise in reckless behavior, all of the characters have some sort of stability and responsibility in their lives, whether it is a wife, child, long-term girlfriend, and/or successful career.
Stability comes to a sudden halt for Mitch (Luke Wilson), whose life gets uprooted by his unfaithful girlfriend, causing him to move into a new house centered in a college community. But after an ordinance makes the house a part of college property, Mitch is left with no choice but to take his friends (Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn) up on their zany idea to turn his home into a fraternity open to anyone in order to stay.
For such a flimsy plot, you have to give credit to the three scriptwriters for adding in the line, “they found a loophole in the paperwork,” to make the incredulous idea palatable.
The problem I have with Old School this time around is that I just did not find as many laughs when there was not a set piece. The wedding scene with the curse-word dropping singers still makes me laugh way longer than it should, Mitch-A-Palooza is an excellent example of controlled comedic chaos, and the fraternity initiation events are all highlights. However, the scenes that interconnect the big moments lack any sort of energy. This is mainly due to the thin depth of the characters.
What makes the group of guys work in movies such as The Hangover and even the aforementioned Project X of last year is that they all have definable traits. In Old School the trio is a fairly analogous group, having clichéd definers and no real substance. The only winning thing that the Wilson-Vaughn-Ferrell clique have going for them is a generous amount of affability with the audience that makes the crude things they do come off less obscene.
Released on February 21, 2003, Old School had an opening weekend of $17.5 million ($23.3 million today) against a $24 million budget. With fantastic holds, the film played well throughout Spring Break, finishing up at $75.6 million ($100.9 million adjusted). Overseas revenues contributed only $11 million, which is understandable given that comedies (especially college ones) rarely translate outside of North America and none of the leads were truly stars at the time. Critical reception was mixed to positive.
With box office success, a sequel was quickly commissioned but, in a very un-Hollywood manner, was never made due to the stars feeling as if the script was not up to par with what they wanted. Ferrell in 2008 commented on the defunct sequel: “I read [the script]. Some super funny set pieces, but I don’t know. I think Vince [Vaughn] had the same reaction. We’re just kind of doing the same thing again. It was like us going to Spring Break, but we’ve got to find this guy who’s the head of a fraternity. Once again, funny things but it’s just us once again back in a fraternity setting. It just felt like it was repeating.”
Directed and co-scripted by The Hangover mastermind Todd Phillips, Old School benefited with his timing knack, letting scenes play out, but not overstay their welcome.
After starring in The Cell and the ill-fated Psycho remake, this movie helped Vince Vaughn successfully transfer from being a dramatic actor to crowd-drawing comedy star. Old School also gave Ferrell’s film career a big boost and with Elf released nine months later, his SNL-days were clearly behind him.
Ironically, Luke Wilson, who already had an established filmography before Old School, found his career to sputter afterwards. Call it bad choices or just bad luck, the talented other Wilson brother has since starred in a string of flops. If you tally up the grosses of all of his films released from 2006 to today, they barely beat the final cume of Old School.
In my book, it is okay if a comedy is silly-stupid. But it is a problem if it is stagnant, which Old School is more often than not. It is sad to see the talented actors’ wheels turn, because the vehicle does not move fast enough. While there are some hilarious scenes (although lifted from other films - looking at you, Animal House), Old School does not have a consistent laugh rate of return.
A nonsensical harmless comedy about people doing harmful stunts, Old School has its moments, but they do not hit the mark hard enough. Worth watching on TV, if Old School was a college student, he would graduate, but certainly not worth a resume-worthy GPA.
Verdict: With Us
4 out of 10