Old School

Occasionally (very occasionally) co-writer and director Todd Phillips stumbles into a slight (very slight) snicker in this otherwise deplorably inept comedy about unhappy, thirtysomething losers trying to recapture their youth by belatedly starting a college fraternity. Still, a few cheap laughs can't begin to make up for the movie's structure-less script, feeble direction, and halfhearted yet ham-fisted acting. Any characters or events that might pass for plot come and go seemingly at random--uppity deans, romantic interests--in favor of paltry, unrelated, one-punch-line half-jokes. But while Phillips (Road Trip) obviously imagines he's following in the footsteps of Animal House, this flick goes so far beyond hackneyed, laugh-less, tiresome incompetence that it may be one of the most un-watchable movies I've ever seen. Starring Luke Wilson (Legally Blonde), Saturday Night Live-spawned one-trick geek Will Ferrell, and Vince Vaughn, who plays a charmless, potbellied soccer-dad version of his smug Swingers persona, Old School definitely flunks out. Not recommended. [Note: Available in both “R” rated (full screen only) and “unrated” (widescreen or full screen) versions, DVD extras [with the “unrated” version's main menu featuring repetitive shots of bare-chested girls] include audio commentary (by director Todd Phillips and costars Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn), eight deleted scenes, a 13-minute “Old School Orientation” making-of featurette, a 21-minute “Inside the Actors Studio” spoof with Ferrell posing as James Lipton, five minutes of “Outtakes and Bloopers,” a two-minute “Live Music” segment featuring Snoop Dogg, a two-minute Easter Egg segment, cast/crew bios, production notes, a photo gallery, TV spots and trailers. Bottom line: lots of extras for a really dumb flick.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Jan. 6, 2009—DreamWorks, 91 min., not rated, $29.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2003's Old School boasts a great transfer and a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are almost identical to the previous DVD release (minus two segments on Easter eggs and Snoop Dogg, as well as notes and galleries), including audio commentary (by director Todd Phillips and costars Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn), eight deleted scenes, a 13-minute “Old School Orientation” making-of featurette, a 21-minute “Inside the Actors Studio” spoof with Ferrell posing as James Lipton, five minutes of outtakes and bloopers, TV spots, and trailers. Bottom line: better looking in Blu, but not a better film.]