Old School (film)
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| Old School | |
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| Directed by | Todd Phillips |
| Produced by | Daniel Goldberg Todd Phillips Joe Medjuck |
| Written by | Scot Armstrong Todd Phillips |
| Starring | Luke Wilson Will Ferrell Vince Vaughn Ellen Pompeo Jeremy Piven |
| Distributed by | DreamWorks SKG |
| Release date(s) | February 21, 2003 |
| Running time | 92 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $24,000,000 |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Old School is a comedy motion picture released by DreamWorks SKG in 2003, about three thirty-somethings who seek to re-live their college days by starting a fraternity, and the tribulations they encounter in doing so. The film, which stars Luke Wilson (Mitch), Vince Vaughn (Beanie) and Will Ferrell (Frank), was directed by Todd Phillips and written by Phillips, Scot Armstrong, and Court Crandall.
The movie was envisioned by Phillips as a comedy parallel to the cult-classic National Lampoon's Animal House.[citation needed] It is considered a forerunner to the frat pack since three of its stars are core members of that group.
This film is number 16 on Bravo's list of 100 funniest movies.[1]
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[edit] Setting
The film is set in a small, unnamed city in Upstate New York. The school was fictional Harrison University, and filming locations included UCLA, USC and Harvard. It is set in 2003.
[edit] Plot
Mitch, the protagonist, comes back from a business trip early and is shocked to find out that his girlfriend Heidi takes part in orgies with a variety of people. She claims it’s purely sexual but nevertheless Mitch doesn’t want to continue the relationship. As a result, he rents a house on a college campus.
Mitch encounters his high school crush, Nicole, at his friend Frank’s wedding party. However, he doesn’t make a good impression with her in his inebriated state by spilling hot coffee on her. Mitch’s other best friend Bernard throws a party for Mitch so that he could get his mind off his ex-girlfriend. Called Mitch-a-palooza, the rapper Snoop Dogg performs Eric B & Rakim's track Paid in Full at the large house party. This party is a huge success and also puts Mitch and his friends at the top of the college social scene. During the party, Frank gets drunk and goes streaking through the neighborhood and is caught by his new wife, straining their relationship.
The next morning, the guys meet Dean Pritchard. The Dean is a childhood acquaintance of the three men, but since he was the butt of most of their pranks, his actions throughout the movie are vindictively rooted. Pritchard happily informs them that the house is specifically designated for social services and community housing. Therefore, Mitch, Frank, and Bernard must either move out or fulfill the Dean’s criteria in order to keep Mitch’s house. For this reason, it is Bernard’s idea to start a fraternity that is open to anyone. Although Mitch is initially reluctant to accept the notion of turning his house into a fraternity, he is essentially obliged to agree with the idea. The fraternity thrives from the start, an initiation rite involving certain lengths of rope, with one end tied to thirty-pound cinderblocks and the other tied to each initiant's genitalia, and a procedure wherein each initiant must drop his cinderblock from a high building precipice, and which is supposed to symbolize each initiant's trust--that the ropes are long enough to allow each cinderblock to reach the ground below with rope length to spare. One initiant (Jerod Mixon), however, has an unfortunate, and ostensibly unplanned, experience involving a loose manhole cover and a deep vertical access shaft. Mitch gets coined "the Godfather". He still tries to keep his work life and fraternity life apart. Regardless, he is approached by countless people even at work who want to become members of his fraternity. The fraternity is an outlet for the stress and boredom that is associated with the monotonous nine-to-five lifestyle for many members.
However, the guys’ dreams are constrained. The death of one of the fraternity members certainly doesn’t help matters, but the main obstacle is still Dean Pritchard. The fraternity is boarded up by the Dean because he claims the group violated an assortment of university policies. He also claims that the students who participated in the non-sanctioned fraternity are subject to expulsion. Nonetheless, Mitch finds out that the group has the right to bypass this legality by completing a series of activities that range from academics and athletics to community service, debate and school spirit. The men are able to complete all of the activities successfully but since the deceased member of the fraternity was still on their roster, the group’s averages were brought down. Consequently, Dean Pritchard tells them the university’s decision stands.
Frank is able to obtain a tape that reveals the Dean bribing a female student with admission to Columbia Law School (a promise the Dean happily broke when she confronted him after the school rejects her) since she is head of the student board that approved of the fraternity's campus status. Accordingly, the Dean’s credibility is destroyed. With this fact, it is hard for the university to withhold their decision and they decide to reinstate the fraternity’s charter. In addition, the fraternity’s old house is replaced with Dean Pritchard’s house (definitely an upgrade). Despite Bernard and Mitch withdrawing from the fraternity, Frank maintains his ties and persists with his leadership in the organization.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Mitch Martin
- Played by: Luke Wilson
Also known as “The Godfather.” Holds a job as a real estate lawyer. His love interest is Nicole.
[edit] Frank Ricard
- Played by: Will Ferrell
Also known as “Frank the Tank”, a nickname that has followed him from his college days, due to his drinking ability.
[edit] Bernard Campbell
- Played by: Vince Vaughn
Also known as “Beanie”. He is married with kids and is a millionaire, but remains envious of his friends' lifestyles.
[edit] Dean Gordon Pritchard
- Played by: Jeremy Piven
Also known as “Cheese”. He is the unscrupulous dean of the university.
[edit] Nicole
- Played by: Ellen Pompeo
The love interest of Mitch Martin after the break-up with his fiancée.
[edit] Heidi
- Played by: Juliette Lewis
Mitch Martin’s fiancée.
[edit] Lara Campbell
- Played by: Leah Remini
Bernard Campbell’s wife, and friend of Marissa.
[edit] Marissa Jones
- Played by: Perrey Reeves
Frank's new wife.
[edit] Mark
- Played by: Craig Kilborn
Nicole's boyfriend.
[edit] Megan Huang
- Played by: Sara Tanaka
Student body president.[1]
[edit] Peppers
- Played by: Seann William Scott
Mullet guy when Frank found the most powerful tranquilizing gun on the market.[2]
[edit] Trivia
- The scene in the diner where Mitch and Nicole are talking, is loosely based the diner scene in Fight Club with the nameless protagonist and Marla Singer.
- Film Director Todd Phillips, makes a small cameo appearance as the "I'm here for the gang bang" guy.
[edit] Lambda Epsilon Omega
ΛΕΩ is the fraternity that the guys started. Original pledges include:
- Joseph 'Blue' Palasky (Patrick Cranshaw) - the oldest member of the fraternity, at 89 years of age, who passes away after a wrestling event that was to involve a pool filled with K-Y Jelly and two topless college girls, Jenny (Corinne Kingsbury) and Jeannie (Lisa Donatz).
- Weensie (Jerod Mixon) - The distinctively obese fraternity pledge.
- Spanish (Rick Gonzalez)
- Hatch (Matthew Carey)
- Jerry (Simon Helberg)
- Abdul (Abdul Goznobi)
- Archer (Eddie Pepitone)
- Warren (Rob Corddry)
[edit] Awards
- In 2003, Artios Awards Nominated Old School for best casting for feature film.
- In 2003, The MTV Movie Award Nominated Old School for Best Comedic Performance, and Best On-Screen Team.
- In 2004, Taurus Award Nominated Old School for Best Fire Stunt.
