Film:
DVD:
Written by: Scot Armstrong, Todd Phillips & Court Randall
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Piven, Craig Kilborn, and Juliette Lewis
Features:
- Bloopers and Outtakes
- Inside the Actors Studio Spoof
- Deleted Scenes
- Featurettes: Welcome to Old School–Now Get Undressed and Nominations and Awards–So Did We Win Anything?
- Running audio commentary from actors Wilson, Ferrell, Vaughn and writer/director Phillips
Released by: Dreamworks
Region: 1
Rating: NR (recommended for mature audiences)
Anamorphic: Yes
My Advice: Rent it.
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Wow. A pre-Geritol version of Animal House. Now, that one-line premise isn’t necessarily off-putting all on its own. Still, you’d think that this movie would be a little bit funny. However, all it really succeeds in doing is linking several scenes of sophomoric humor together with only a very flimsy idea for a plot. Some of it is vaguely humorous, true, but even Ferrell seems a bit lost in this movie…at least until the end. When the guys have to defend their university charter, there are some really very funny moments during their trials. A moment with a cameo by James Carville leaps especially to mind. All in all, the movie is only mildly entertaining, and can’t really decide whether it wants to be an all-out Animal House or a late-bloomer’s coming of age story or both. Sadly, it achieves none of the above.

Here’s another beef with this DVD: you’d think that with the nature of the film and the cast involved, there would be a better, longer gag reel. The best word I can think of to describe this one is…mediocre. With Will Ferrell involved, it should have been much longer and, sadly, much funnier. Finally, there’s the commentary track. It features Phillips, Wilson, Ferrell, and Vaughn recalling their experiences with this movie. I’m thankful that it’s on the DVD. These guys had a great time making the movie and they obviously had an equally great time getting back together and improvising with each other in the studio. This makes for a really funny track which should not be missed. There are some of the other obligatory special features on this disc, like trailers and still galleries, but they really aren’t worth mentioning. Damn, I did anyway. Oh, well.
True, you get a slightly raunchier version of the theatrical release of the movie, but that’s really about all you get. If this movie sounds up your alley, then it’s probably worth at least renting. But still, I wouldn’t advise owning it, unless you really, really like that spoof of Inside the Actor’s Studio.