Mar 29, 2024
Visit our sister site:

Movies

‘School for Scoundrels’

Billy Bob Thornton does a watered-down version of his belligerent "Bad Santa" character, while Jon Heder does an even nerdier version of the role that made him famous in "Napoleon Dynamite," in "School for Scoundrels."

The clash of those two opposing forces provides a few laughs for a little while. But then director Todd Phillips, following up his gleefully juvenile "Old School," can’t decide what he wants his movie to be _ which makes you wonder why you bothered staying with him for the duration.

Thornton stars as a wiry, enigmatic figure known only as Dr. P, who teaches a class for insecure men. He encourages them (with the help of a relentlessly abusive Michael Clarke Duncan) to be a lion, to take what belongs to them. He berates and hazes them, which frequently results in his students being hit/kicked/shot with paintball pellets in the groin.

Heder co-stars as Roger, an unbelievably milquetoast Manhattan meter maid who enrols in the class after being rejected by yet another kid in the Big Brother program where he volunteers. David Cross has a small role as the friend who recommends the course, but his substantial comedic talents mostly go to waste, as do those of the charmingly crass Sarah Silverman and the versatile Luis Guzman.

The course itself is a clever idea, the misfit students sufficiently vivid in their social challenges. One guy (Matt Walsh) has yet to move out of his parents’ basement; another ("Saturday Night Live" alum Horatio Sanz, who’s never funny) is tired of his wife walking all over him. And in the beginning, when they’re all exposing their weaknesses and struggling awkwardly to overcome them, the film does have an insane energy about it.

But then the script (which Phillips co-wrote once again with Scot Armstrong, based on a 1960 film of the same name) veers into oppressively mean territory. Then it drags with repetitive one-upmanship. Then it turns into a typically cheesy romantic comedy, complete with a climactic mad dash through the airport. And after several false endings, "School for Scoundrels" feels like it will just never let out.

Pretty Australian actress Jacinda Barrett ("The Last Kiss") doesn’t get much to do as Amanda, the blandly sweet object of Heder’s affection. The ubiquitous Ben Stiller is mildly amusing as one of Dr. P’s scarred former students, who’s now living in the woods with about 50 cats.

Both function as pawns in Dr. P’s totally arbitrary need to compete with his top student _ which Roger turns out to be after confronting an office bully for the last cherry Danish. (And Heder, by the way, seriously needs to prove that he can do something else besides serve as the butt of jokes or risk forever being typecast.)

Roger is stunned to find that Dr. P follows his own advice, such as "Lie, Lie, and Lie Some More," to get whatever he wants. But we never get a handle on who this guy is _ he’s supposed to be a mystery, but instead ends up contradicting himself at every turn. Is he a good man with dubious methods? Or is he truly Machiavellian?

By the end it’s hard to care _ you want it to be over long before the needless epilogue that fills you in on how all these freaks turned out. And so ultimately, "School for Scoundrels" earns a failing grade.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Movies

‘School for Scoundrels’

Billy Bob Thornton does a watered-down version of his belligerent "Bad Santa" character, while Jon Heder does an even nerdier version of the role that made him famous in "Napoleon Dynamite," in "School for Scoundrels."

The clash of those two opposing forces provides a few laughs for a little while. But then director Todd Phillips, following up his gleefully juvenile "Old School," can’t decide what he wants his movie to be _ which makes you wonder why you bothered staying with him for the duration.

Thornton stars as a wiry, enigmatic figure known only as Dr. P, who teaches a class for insecure men. He encourages them (with the help of a relentlessly abusive Michael Clarke Duncan) to be a lion, to take what belongs to them. He berates and hazes them, which frequently results in his students being hit/kicked/shot with paintball pellets in the groin.

Heder co-stars as Roger, an unbelievably milquetoast Manhattan meter maid who enrols in the class after being rejected by yet another kid in the Big Brother program where he volunteers. David Cross has a small role as the friend who recommends the course, but his substantial comedic talents mostly go to waste, as do those of the charmingly crass Sarah Silverman and the versatile Luis Guzman.

The course itself is a clever idea, the misfit students sufficiently vivid in their social challenges. One guy (Matt Walsh) has yet to move out of his parents’ basement; another ("Saturday Night Live" alum Horatio Sanz, who’s never funny) is tired of his wife walking all over him. And in the beginning, when they’re all exposing their weaknesses and struggling awkwardly to overcome them, the film does have an insane energy about it.

But then the script (which Phillips co-wrote once again with Scot Armstrong, based on a 1960 film of the same name) veers into oppressively mean territory. Then it drags with repetitive one-upmanship. Then it turns into a typically cheesy romantic comedy, complete with a climactic mad dash through the airport. And after several false endings, "School for Scoundrels" feels like it will just never let out.

Pretty Australian actress Jacinda Barrett ("The Last Kiss") doesn’t get much to do as Amanda, the blandly sweet object of Heder’s affection. The ubiquitous Ben Stiller is mildly amusing as one of Dr. P’s scarred former students, who’s now living in the woods with about 50 cats.

Both function as pawns in Dr. P’s totally arbitrary need to compete with his top student _ which Roger turns out to be after confronting an office bully for the last cherry Danish. (And Heder, by the way, seriously needs to prove that he can do something else besides serve as the butt of jokes or risk forever being typecast.)

Roger is stunned to find that Dr. P follows his own advice, such as "Lie, Lie, and Lie Some More," to get whatever he wants. But we never get a handle on who this guy is _ he’s supposed to be a mystery, but instead ends up contradicting himself at every turn. Is he a good man with dubious methods? Or is he truly Machiavellian?

By the end it’s hard to care _ you want it to be over long before the needless epilogue that fills you in on how all these freaks turned out. And so ultimately, "School for Scoundrels" earns a failing grade.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Movies

‘School for Scoundrels’

Billy Bob Thornton does a watered-down version of his belligerent "Bad Santa" character, while Jon Heder does an even nerdier version of the role that made him famous in "Napoleon Dynamite," in "School for Scoundrels."

The clash of those two opposing forces provides a few laughs for a little while. But then director Todd Phillips, following up his gleefully juvenile "Old School," can’t decide what he wants his movie to be _ which makes you wonder why you bothered staying with him for the duration.

Thornton stars as a wiry, enigmatic figure known only as Dr. P, who teaches a class for insecure men. He encourages them (with the help of a relentlessly abusive Michael Clarke Duncan) to be a lion, to take what belongs to them. He berates and hazes them, which frequently results in his students being hit/kicked/shot with paintball pellets in the groin.

Heder co-stars as Roger, an unbelievably milquetoast Manhattan meter maid who enrols in the class after being rejected by yet another kid in the Big Brother program where he volunteers. David Cross has a small role as the friend who recommends the course, but his substantial comedic talents mostly go to waste, as do those of the charmingly crass Sarah Silverman and the versatile Luis Guzman.

The course itself is a clever idea, the misfit students sufficiently vivid in their social challenges. One guy (Matt Walsh) has yet to move out of his parents’ basement; another ("Saturday Night Live" alum Horatio Sanz, who’s never funny) is tired of his wife walking all over him. And in the beginning, when they’re all exposing their weaknesses and struggling awkwardly to overcome them, the film does have an insane energy about it.

But then the script (which Phillips co-wrote once again with Scot Armstrong, based on a 1960 film of the same name) veers into oppressively mean territory. Then it drags with repetitive one-upmanship. Then it turns into a typically cheesy romantic comedy, complete with a climactic mad dash through the airport. And after several false endings, "School for Scoundrels" feels like it will just never let out.

Pretty Australian actress Jacinda Barrett ("The Last Kiss") doesn’t get much to do as Amanda, the blandly sweet object of Heder’s affection. The ubiquitous Ben Stiller is mildly amusing as one of Dr. P’s scarred former students, who’s now living in the woods with about 50 cats.

Both function as pawns in Dr. P’s totally arbitrary need to compete with his top student _ which Roger turns out to be after confronting an office bully for the last cherry Danish. (And Heder, by the way, seriously needs to prove that he can do something else besides serve as the butt of jokes or risk forever being typecast.)

Roger is stunned to find that Dr. P follows his own advice, such as "Lie, Lie, and Lie Some More," to get whatever he wants. But we never get a handle on who this guy is _ he’s supposed to be a mystery, but instead ends up contradicting himself at every turn. Is he a good man with dubious methods? Or is he truly Machiavellian?

By the end it’s hard to care _ you want it to be over long before the needless epilogue that fills you in on how all these freaks turned out. And so ultimately, "School for Scoundrels" earns a failing grade.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisements