‘Old School’
is expelled indefinitely

There are bad comedies out there, where you don’t laugh at all, yet you can tell that they put forth some sort of effort. Then comes a film like “Old School,” which is so mind-numbingly inert that you doubt whether they were even trying to make a comedy. Tragedy is more the word for it, not for the characters, but for the audience.

Mitch (Luke Wilson) is a 31-year-old man, rebounding from a relationship with his bizarre ex-girlfriend. After moving into a new house near Harrison University, he discovers that the college will be taking over the house and evicting Mitch, thanks to an uppity dean (Jeremy Piven). With the help of his friends, the newly-married Frank (Will Ferrell) and the already-married Beanie (Vince Vaughn), Mitch plans on staying in the house by turning it into a fraternity, no matter if the pledges are students or not—but the dean is intent on halting this plan. What will happen to these intrepid characters? Even after seeing the movie, I’m still not entirely sure myself, but whatever happens, it involves a lot of beer and gratuitous nudity.

What does the movie offer in terms of comedy? We are shown broad sexual humor, beer jokes and a lot of weirdos doing stupid things. Out of all this, I smirked only twice during “Old School.” Once was while I was watching some of Will Ferrell’s antics—the former “SNL” performer has always had a likable personality, and here he is no different. The second time was during a “debate team” scene, with a brief, amusing cameo by colorful political personality James Carville. However, given the so-called “jokes” in the movie, I sincerely doubt if the target audience of “Old School” would know who James Carville is.

It’s nearly impossible to think of the film without considering “Animal House.” The differences between the two movies are staggering, though—the original film is incomparably funnier and more clever. It kept a tight grasp on plot and character development, and most importantly, it made you care about the characters. “Old School” wants you to care about its characters, but can’t seem to keep its attention to important details long enough for it to matter. Mitch will never hold a candle to Bluto.

There’s nothing wrong with low or broad comedy, as “Animal House” taught us. If done appropriately, it can bring laughs of the highest order. However, there has to be some kind of underlying wit to it, otherwise you’re just being low for the sake of being low. This kind of inanity is all that “Old School” ever aspires to, and it’s just what it achieves. This stupidity is better off ignoring. In fact, it’s probably better to stop talking about “Old School” now, for fear that my I.Q. may drop a few more points.