After unexpectedly discovering his girlfriend is into the group thing, Mitch (Owen Wilson) ends the relationship and moves into a house adjacent to a college campus. His pals Beanie (Vince Vaughn) and Frank (Will Ferrell) quickly turn the house into party central, but the school’s dean (Jeremy Piven), who holds a long-standing grudge against the three friends, threatens to kick them out and turn Mitch’s home into college housing. A legal loophole provides them with their only solution: form a fraternity.

CRITIQUE

Old School is no Animal House (what is?), but damn if still isn’t entertaining in its own right. Co-writer/director Todd Phillips and partner in comedy Scot Armstrong (the team responsible for the surprisingly good Road Trip and the underwhelming School for Scoundrels) serve up another mix of low-brow shenanigans and bared breasts, proving that--in the right hands, anyway--this tried-and-true formula still works.

The plot of Old School is obvious, and so are many of the jokes, but the laugh quotient is pretty high. For example, it doesn’t take a genius to come up with the idea of having Andy Dick teach a bunch of bored housewives the art of fellatio, but the scene in which he does just that is hilarious nonetheless.

And the movie has fun with the shopworn idea of a college dean who has nothing better to do than obsessively target a single fraternity by going one better and making this particular dean impossibly young (Piven’s character couldn’t be older than thirty) and not even bothering to venture an explanation as to how he came to hold the office at such an age.

There’s also a strangely entertaining Fight Club-ish vibe running through the movie; a number of scenes recall that particular film, from Wilson’s Xeroxing of the flyers on down to the scene in the café (I used to think I was reading too much into this, but Phillips has said the allusions were intentional).

But forget all of that--how could you not love a movie that has Will Ferrell trying to convince Archbishop Don Magic Juan to go streaking (love the line about the shoes), much less one that makes such good use of classic tunes by Kansas and Whitesnake?

My enjoyment of Old School is undoubtedly influenced by the fact I know (and associate with) people like this. I have friends who would undoubtedly view the opportunity to chuck their daily grinds, leave behind their families and move into a big house and party with college girls as a godsend. I don’t mean they actually would go through with it, but I don’t think you’ll find too many men my age who wouldn’t at least entertain the thought, reprehensible as such an action would actually be.

It also helps that Phillips and Armstrong give us three characters that are likeable and relatable. Most modern comedies feature characters who are irritating, or are odd simply for the sake of being odd. Not only is that lazy filmmaking, it’s also counterproductive. There’s a reason movies such as this one, Knocked Up, and Superbad find an audience (besides the fact they’re hilarious): likeable characters.

Old School isn’t as character driven as those other two movies (not by a long shot), but it does quickly and deftly give us a reason to want to spend time with its principals. Just look at the first scene in this movie. Wilson’s reaction to discovering his girlfriend’s sexual proclivities is dead on. That she’s a freak isn’t a problem; that she’s not a freak in a way he can exploit is. It may strike some as nothing more than a tasteless way to kick the movie off, but there’s nevertheless a truth in it that immediately puts you on Wilson’s side.

Here I likely am reading too much into this, as this isn’t exactly the sort of movie that invites this sort of thought, but I think that part of what makes this movie work reveals what’s wrong with so many modern comedies. Too many of them assume you’ll automatically latch on to their characters, which is a huge mistake. I like naked women and dirty jokes just as much as the next guy, but I like people I wouldn’t mind spending time with, too.

I’m beginning to bore even myself, so let me stop. Before I forget, though, I’d be committing a heinous crime if I ended this review without mentioning Patrick Cranshaw, who plays Blue. It seems unlikely a man in his early eighties could steal a movie from the likes of Vaughn and Farrell, but Cranshaw, who died in late 2005, steals it right out from under them. Nobody of his generation did deadpan quite like Cranshaw, and I don’t think anyone will be able to fill the singular void his passing created.

THE VIDEO

The 2.35:1/1080p transfer looks damn fine, far better than you’d expect for the genre (having Mark Irwin aboard as cinematographer certainly didn’t hurt things). There’s a nice sense of depth to the image, and the level of detail is above average. Some of the darker scenes can be somewhat flat, but it’s not much of an issue, nor is it very surprising.

THE AUDIO

The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 track isn’t called upon to do much. Most of the audio is simply dialogue, which is anchored firmly in the center channel (and generally sounds quite good). Problem is, just about everything else is also anchored firmly in the center channel. The entire front half of the soundstage is employed on a few occasions (during the part scene and to help open up the music), but the surrounds are quiet for practically the entire movie; they kick in once or twice during the finale, but that’s pretty much it. Bass action is relegated entirely to the music. French and Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 tracks are also included. English, English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles are available.

THE EXTRAS

The audio commentary featuring Todd Phillips, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, and Vince Vaughn is short on filmmaking insights and long on jokes and insults, most of which are thankfully pretty funny.

Eight deleted scenes (13 minutes), which are just as good as anything in the movie itself, are also included. Phillips and his stars also provide commentary for these bits.

Old School Orientation (14 minutes) is an EPK-style promo piece/making-of featurette.

The Inside the Actors Studio spoof (21 minutes) gives Ferrell another chance to do his James Lipton impersonation (interviewing himself, Vaughn, Wilson, and Phillips) but it proves that said impersonation is best saved for five-minute skits.

A selection of outtakes & bloopers (5 minutes) offers up some flubbed lines, unused improvisations, and other on-set goofiness. 

Rounding things out are the movie’s theatrical trailer and three TV spots.

FINAL THOUGHT

Old School continues to make me laugh, and that’s pretty much all you could ask for from a movie like this.