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Dancing_P [ 6.0 ]
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This film raises an important question: is it possible to be completely and utterly generic and yet still be justified? Seemingly concieved in about ten minutes on the back of a mustard-stained napkin from Wendy's, Accepted is basically a movie made twenty years too late from bits and pieces of previous films. Its premise of slobs vs. snobs is at least as old as Animal House and about 90% of its gags will seem distressingly familiar. Yet there's comfort in so something so doggedly generic. Accepted sets the bar so low, it can't exactly disappoint. Justin Long is Bartelby Gaines, chronic underachiever and wiseass. When he fails to get into any college, Bartelby fakes an acceptance letter from the South Harmon Institute of Technology (S.H.I.T., as luck would have it) to appease his parents. He rents out an old mental asylum as a front only to find out that several hundred students have been accepted through the too-functional website designed by his best friend Sherman (Jonah Hill). From these humble beginnings, Bartelby molds the school into an incredibly ''alternative'' learning environment. I can't remember if it ends with title cards describing the characters' post-film hijinx, but it might as well. It's that kind of movie. Still, it's pretty harmless, usually funny and Long and Hill are two very funny dudes. It's 100% TBS-bound, but hey.
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chapter11 [ 6.5 ]
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It's simple, and it's cute. And Justin Long appears to have emerged from his disastrous role in "the Break-Up" relatively unscathed, so that's good to see (he's actually quite good in this; easily the best thing about this film, which bodes pretty well for the film itself, considering that he's the lead and all). I don't know that it's entirely unfunny like many people seem to think it is. It's not belly-laugh funny, true (except for a couple of parts that i honestly can't remember off the top of my head) but it's chuckle-funny, it's smile-funny. Plus the inspirational speech near the end got me. What? I'm a total bitch.
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astrosheil [ 4.0 ]
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I loved the idea more than the movie. But it did make some good points about the struggles young people go through to get into the college of their choice. And how it effects their self esteem when they do not get in.
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DokBrowne [ 7.0 ]
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Rather irritating and far-fetched to a fault (nothing about the premise makes sense despite the screenplay's attempts). Also cliched in its plotline, progression, and climax, full of unfunny stereotypes, corny speeches, one-dimensional diatribes against the college system (not that they don't deserve much of the vitriol, but to say they're completely worthless and stifling is pretty stupid), and most curiously of all, a nearly exact detail-for-detail re-enactment of the great unsung '90s kid's movie "Camp Nowhere".
NEVERTHELESS, as I tried to explain to someone afterwards (he didn't buy it at all), if this were an '80s movie, I would no doubt have overlooked/forgiven those many flaws (the most crucial of which, my friend pointed out, was its constant lack of funny) and given it a positive rating and a reasonably happy place in my heart thanks to the semblance of wit and intelligence running through it. There are lots of clever lines, and atypical ones, even though many don't hit the right note (i.e. are just annoying), and the actors provide a sharp comic timing to them. This definitely isn't just another teen movie; there may be lots of lame, leftover gags and one of the most ridiculous concepts ever, but at least it employs a creative streak and some actual consideration to ideas. Plus it's kinda rousing, and there's nothing I like better than quasi-inspirational teen movies. Except for genuinely inspirational ones, I guess, but the point I'm making is that I'll take what I can get; the movie shouldn't be written off just because it's 1/2 irksome and you've seen this sort of thing 100 times before. It has a spark and is quite likable at times. Same goes for Justin Long, who may not seem like leading man material, but demonstrates a flair for delivery (which my friend claimed, in an attempt to ruin the experience for me even further, Long just ripped off from his pal Vince Vaughn) and makes for a worthy (albeit shaggier) descendent of the Ferris Bueller mold. Even better is his pal Jonah Hill - he gets most of the best lines and for good reason. Lewis Black channels Gilbert Gottfried but in a somewhat funnier way (thank God). And another sidekick, Adam Herschman, does his best to impersonate Napoleon Dynamite, to lame effect.
Yet against my own reasoning, I gotta say that I liked the movie. A little bit. It definitely could have been a damn good movie instead of just a not-really-kinda-enjoyable one if it'd ironed out the kinks, because it's going in the right direction. But it's good enough.
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| Weighted Rating | : 6.3 |
| No. Ratings | : 4 | |
| No. Reviews | : 4 | |
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