College (2008)

Written by Dan Callahan & Adam Ellison
Directed by Deb Hagan

Quite possibly one of the worst movies ever about the college experience, even the title lets you know the writers couldn't think of anything original, they just figured this is a movie that will make money based on the fact that the formula has worked before. Being a fan of most stupid college movies, from Revenge of the Nerds and Animal House to Van Wilder and Going Greek, I figured this would make me laugh at least a few times. For the most part, it didn't.

The story centers on three friends, the popular Kevin (Drake Bell), his loudmouth buddy Carter (Andrew Caldwell), and the nerdy Morris (Kevin Covais) who set off for a weekend trip to Fordham University, where Kevin and Morris will be attending in the fall, the trip is to check out the school and see if it's what they really want, meanwhile Morris has a scholarship interview to attend while they are there.

When they get there, they realize the place they are supposed to stay at sucks, so they go to one of the fraternities, where one of Carter's brothers is a legacy. They are shown harsh treatment by the Fraternity, who makes them do humiliating things and then binge drink at night.

Really, what bothers me most about the film is the ridiculousness. Sometimes, this can be a good thing, like with Old School, the fact that it's so ridiculous is funny. Here, it just gets annoying, with the disgusting jokes (I'm sorry, I'm as lowbrow as anyone, but watching a kid play in shit in a toilet just isn't funny, it's gross) and the overtly homosexual humor. I understand the homosexual stuff is supposed to be a sly poke at Fraternity life, but instead it just shows that this particular fraternity is gay, but the entire time they try to act overly straight.

This isn't the worst part however, the stereotypes are all here, the wacky parties, the slutty girls, the trouble is it's already been done before, and most of the time, it's a lot better than this.

With that said, it has a few laughs, and the film is well made, good below the line work all around, but that won't save this film from sucking the big one. However, Drake Bell shows his potential to be something more than a cheesy Nickelodeon actor, same with Andrew Caldwell, but both still have a ways to go before they are going to be scoring big roles. However, the potential is there. As for the screenwriters, the same can't be said.

6.2/10