Review of Accepted (2006) by Van R — 28 Mar 2010

Before he helmed "Hot Tub Time Machine," director Steve Pink called the shots on the funny but featherweight, $23-million dollar, PG-13-rated, collegiate comedy "Accepted," with Justin Long, Jonah Hill and Adam Herschman. This is one of those â??beat the systemâ?? movies. Essentially, this movie ridicules the higher education in America and the college ranking system.

Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long of â??The Break Upâ??) knows how to navigate the system. The first time we encounter our wily protagonist, Bartleby is forging fake IDs for his high school friends. Ironically, one of Bartlebyâ??s classmates, Glen (Adam Herschman of â??Consumedâ??), is posing for his mug shot in a high school T-shirt. Naturally, Glen has no clue how contradictory the T-shirt makes him look in the context of the photo. Bartleby explains that such a shirt invalidates the ID, but Glen remains oblivious to this logic. Dismissing Glenâ??s ignorance, Bartleby says that he fix photo in post-production. One of his closest friends, Sherman Schrader (Jonah Hill of "Superbad"), slips into the room and warns Bartleby that Vice Principal Mathews (Tim Bagley of â??Happy, Texasâ??) is heading to the room. According to Sherman, Mathews sneaks into the room regularly to masturbate to pictures of women in a gym magazine. Hastily, Bartleby improvises so when Mathews enters the room, everybody there for a counterfeit ID made is rehearsing as a part of a glee club. When Mathews points out that the high school has not glee club, Bartleby makes veiled references to what the principal intends to do with the magazine and scares him off. Bartleby proves throughout the â??Acceptedâ?? that he has the ability to rebound on short notice. Later, in similar predicaments, not only does this knack save Bartlebyâ??s bacon, but it also foreshadows his dealings with another academic prick. Sadly, Bartlebyâ??s gift for getting his butt out of a crack doesnâ??t extend to making high grades.

Unfortunately, Bartleby has no luck finding a college that will accept him. In fact, every college that he applies for turns him down. Unhappily, our hero resigns himself to a life without higher education. Bartlebyâ??s father, Jack Gaines (Mark Derwin of â??Dirty Deedsâ??), however, insists that his son attend a college because it is a part of life. Since he cannot matriculate, Bartleby creates his own college with his friends. They name it South Harmony Institute of Technology. This name makes for an amusing but scatological acronym and his best friend for life, Sherman designs a website to fool Bartleby's father. The guys take out a lease on an abandoned insane asylum, renovate it, slap a sign on it, and proceed to party like there is no tomorrow.

Clearly, the metaphor about the inmates running the asylum is apt. Suddenly, teens flock to the college and Bartleby discovers that Sherman put a click button on the site that admits them automatically so our hero finds himself surrounded by every reject imaginable. Eventually, the dean of a nearby university, Dean Richard Van Horne (Anthony Heald of "Silence of the Lambs"), who wants the property that the school is situated on, tries to sabotage the school. Clearly, this opus pits narrow-minded, buttoned-down, suit and tie traditionalists against the open-minded iconoclasts with predictable but entertaining consequences. Naturally, our free-wheeling college kids forget to obtain accreditation, and Van Horne has the authorities close the school down and charge Bartleby with fraud. Things, however, are far from over.

Indeed, the Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, and Mark Perez screenplay follows the â??Animal Houseâ?? formula, but shuns nudity. If youâ??re keeping count, they use the four-letter word for fecal matter over 50 times. The writers do create several interesting characters, especially one fellow who can wield his mind to explode things. Altogther, "Accepted" qualifies as a fast-moving farce that entertains. â??Acceptedâ?? coined $10-million during its opening weekend.