Rated PG-13 - Running Time: 1:23 - Released 9/13/02
STEALING HARVARD
Rated PG-13 - Running Time: 1:23 - Released 9/13/02
Stealing Harvard is every bit as dumb as you and I
expected it to be from watching the trailer, but at least director
Bruce McCulloch didn't kid himself about the stupidity of the
concept penned by Martin Hynes and Peter Tolan. For one thing,
he has figured out how to use Tom Green properly, as a wacky supporting
character and nothing more. Green can be brilliant in the second
banana role, adding truly hilarious background bits and inane
lines every now and then, but we all learned from Freddy
Got Fingered that putting him in the lead (not to mention
the director's chair) is a bad idea. Secondly, McCulloch sees
the material as what it is—a fluffy romp without credible
characters or a believable plot line. Consequently, he's treated
it as such, dispensing with character development, pretentious
romantic sub-plots, and those pesky logic issues. The movie is
dumb; he doesn't try to make it smart, and this results in another
important selling point: a short running time.
The film begins with a voiceover by Jason Lee, who plays John
Plummer, a nice guy who's been saving up to marry his nice girlfriend
Elaine (Leslie Mann) while working at a medical supply store owned
by her protective and intimidating father (Dennis Farina), with
whom she shares a not-completely-normal relationship. But just
as she announces that they've reached their goal of $30,000 and
can marry and begin looking for a home, he learns that his niece
Noreen (Tammy Blanchard) has been accepted into Harvard. At first
he's ecstatic, until she and her mother, John's slutty sister
Patty (Megan Mullally, Will & Grace) remind him that
he promised long ago (in a loving but ill-advised moment of unclehood)
that he'd pay for her college education. According to her, she's
got the whole tuition covered except for $29,879. Rather than
disappoint his blushing bride and her menacing daddy, he consults
his crazy friend Duff (Green) to figure out a way to raise the
money. Naturally, they pursue all the traditional avenues—burglary,
armed robbery, fraud—none of which work exactly as planned.
I suppose as long as there are teenage boys to shell out money for movie tickets, there will be movies like this to suck it up. I can't say I approve, but at least it keeps them busy while their parents stay home and rent the venerable classics like Porky's and Animal House. Jason Lee is not nearly as valuable (or enjoyable) in this kind of part as he is in Almost Famous, or Vanilla Sky, or Kevin Smith's Jersey movies, but I guess everyone has to pay the bills. He looks shamefully aware that that's what he's doing. The girls look good, as is all that's required of them, and Farina treads familiar ground as the tough guy surrounded by idiots. And then there's Green, back to the things he does best—running around in the background, abusing chainsaws, cars, and hedge clippers, putting the emphasis on the wrong word, and wishing he were still sleeping with Drew. **½
