Year: 2003
Directed By: Todd Phillips
Written By: Todd Phillips, Scot Armstong, and Court Crandall
RYAN’S REVIEW
Ah, what a funny movie. Is it even possible that more than 10 years have passed since it came out? Just yesterday I was a willful youth and this was the funniest thing I had ever seen. In 2003 I was young and living out my very own Benjamin Braddock scenario of youthful confusion about life and what comes next. I didn’t care about much back then, but I lived for the movies. When this movie came out I saw it in the theater at least five times and I laughed harder every time I saw it again. Oh the days when life was different and the hammer of responsibility hadn’t fallen with all its weight. I love this movie because it takes me back to a time when things were different, and because after all this time it still makes me laugh.
This movie had a really rich cast of comedians and they all made a point to have their own moment or two. At top billing the three headlining the movie all took this opportunity to seize the limelight. For years after this movie Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell would make every attempt to recapture the magic they had him in this movie. In that scenario Vaughn was more successful than Ferrell despite how much money the latter has continued to make. Luke Wilson wouldn’t achieve the same success as the others but this movie definitely made his star brighter.
If there was a problem with this movie it’s that I think it gave Will Ferrell too much notoriety. I thought Ferrell was hilarious in this movie but his strength was in the type of role he played here. A funny man among other funny men. After this movie came out he ballooned as a top billed actor and I have never felt he was funny enough to carry a film by himself. I have more often than not found his movies to simply be stupid and liked them less and less as they continued to come out. Anchorman was wildly successful while I was in college but I just never got it. I specifically remember thinking all my friends were just high and laughing at it because they thought it was supposed to be funny. I didn’t get it, and little else he did in the years following resonated with me as a fan. I am not discounting Will Ferrell’s talent, he is a funny man. Yet, I think he shined brightest in a movie like this where the story didn’t center around him and he was simply part of it.
What might be so surprising about this film is that it never landed a sequel. It was talked about for years with all the other men of this budding group being involved in the next installment. Rumors abound that there would be a rival fraternity in the next film featuring the likes of Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and maybe Jack Black I can’t remember. Somewhere along the line it never happened though and to this day has managed to stay sequel free despite other such installments like Ron Burgandy or Dumb and Dumber. Of course never say never with a comedy though. This was a really successful movie and I doubt the chance of making more money on it will be ignored forever.
This one doesn’t get old for me and I laugh as much now as I did when I saw it over a decade ago. If you haven’t seen it you have missed out on something funny. Specifically something far funnier than everything that came out in the aftermath of its success from some of its stars. If you are looking for something that will make you laugh then you can’t go wrong with this one.
AMBER’S REVIEW
Oh I love this movie. It is still so funny to me, even though I have watched it so many times. All of these funny people in one place in such a ridiculous scenario. A frat house for adult guys. It’s like their dream come true.
This poster is pretty good. There is a blur effect in the background, which is pretty clever because they are pretty much drunk for the majority of the movie and isn’t everything kind of a blur after that much binge drinking? The typography is very collegiate with also helps push home the plot of this movie – the college fraternity. It’s nothing very special, but I think it works for a movie like this.
NEXT MOVIE: Orange County (2002)
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