Three middle-aged friends start an all-inclusive fraternity in order
to recapture the glory of their youth, only to royally piss off the dean. COMEDY
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Old School (2003)Directed by Todd Phillips
Written by Todd Phillips and Scot Armstrong Starring Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Ellen Pompeo, Jeremy Piven, Patrick Cranshaw, Juliette Lewis, Perrey Reeves, Craig Kilborn, Elisha Cuthbert, Terry O'Quinn, Jerod Mixon, Rick Gonzalez, Leah Remini |
Old School is the modern-day Animal House. That's pretty much the best way to describe it. It holds nothing back and stands out as one of the funniest films of either Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, or Vince Vaughn's career. All three of them are in top form, especially Will Ferrell in his now iconic role of Frank "The Tank" Ricard. Old School does a great job of showing the ridiculousness of college party culture and the craziness of mid-life crises, particularly when your friends force you to create a fraternity.
Luke Wilson stars as Mitch, a depressed salesman who catches his girlfriend mid-orgy and gets his own place near a college in order to start over. His party-happy friend Beanie (Vince Vaughn) turns the house into a frat house behind his back, turning Mitch into an instant college legend known as The Godfather, which turns into a pretty funny running gag. Of course, this causes their newlywed friend Frank (Ferrell) to fall off the wagon and go completely crazy, from streaking on the main road to jumping through flaming hoops dressed in a mascot costume. This film has a great deal of memorable scenes, most of which involve Frank the Tank doing something insane and ridiculous. At the center of all the crude humor and frat boy mentality, there's a soft-spoken message that basically adds up to "Be happy with your life, no matter who or what you are." It's a good lesson, one that's taught by many movies, but never quite as hilarious or crazy as this. Old School is an early 2000's comedy classic that has yet to be knocked out of the Will Ferrell Top 10. It's quotable, memorable, and has Ferrell delivering a terribly off-key rendition of Kansas's "Dust in the Wind." If that's not incentive to watch, I don't know what is. |