Review of Admission (2013) by Clay N — 29 Mar 2013

Some television stars don't always translate very well to the big screen. Much like Steve Carrell in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, here we are again with big time, little screen actress, Tina Fey (she masters her television craft on NBC's 30 Rock). A few years back, Tina Fey and Steve Carrell took to the big screen in a film called, Date Night, which you might have safely assumed would translate to a rivetingly funny film experience. There's only one little problem with that: it wasn't funny and more importantly, she wasn't funny. The point is (and yes, we've gotten a little off base here) just because Tiny Fey has a boatload of television awards doesn't mean she has what it takes to make it on the big screen. Although, in her defense, she hasn't really taken on an overpowering film role as she does in the quaint little comedy, Admission.

Directed by Paul Weitz (American Pie & Little Fockers), Admission stars Tina Fey as Portia Nathan, an ambitious Princeton University admissions officer that stumbles upon a high school prodigy student, Jeremiah Balakian (Nat Wolff), in a back woods high school run by the free spirited John Pressman (Paul Rudd). After her initial visit to the high school, Portia is caught off guard when Pressman tells her that she is the mother of the prodigy (the child she gave up for adoption). Pressman informs Portia that Jeremiah desperately wants to attend Princeton, but doesn't have the credentials that are typically required to get into Princeton - thus seeking her help to get him admitted. Michael Sheen, Lily Tomlin, and Wallace Shawn also star in supporting roles.

It should be no surprise to hear that this is Tina Fey's best performance to date on the big screen - since she obviously doesn't have an extensive resume in that department just yet. However, her character is a bit of a scatter-brained elitist that is difficult to sympathize with or relate to at any point of the story. Upon first meeting her character, she's in a direct competition to become the next dean of admissions for Princeton, and the next thing you know, she goes to a random high school, meets its random supervisor, culminating in him telling her (randomly) that he has found her son - and naturally her next reaction is to make out with him. By any definition, that's either a pretty unorthodox trip - or really bad storytelling.

In any event, Admission is a comedy with the best of intentions at heart. It's certainly an interesting story as it unfolds (depicting an extremely bothersome college admission process), but at the end of the day, it's still a comedy, and comedies are supposed to be funny. The film has a few of those embarrassing "I just can't look" moments, but for the most part, the humorous moments come from Lily Tomlin in her portrayal of Portia's uptight mother. Straight out of a high school student's worst nightmare, one scene has Tomlin firing a shotgun at Paul Rudd as he drops Portia off at her mother's house - a scene in which Tomlin's character humorously misinterprets as an unwanted romantic advance on her daughter.

Other "comedic" scenes, however, do not work so well in the film. One particular scene is meant to depict the prodigy student as "too smart for the rest of us" as he does a ventriloquist act at a birthday party. Elitist jokes are all fine and dandy - if they work for the scene. Yet, just because a kid displays a great deal of charisma and rattles off the names of a bunch of classic authors that most people have never heard of doesn't necessarily entitle him admittance to Princeton. It's truly unfortunate that scenes like this try so hard to be smart, only to miss the mark and land right on their face - thus severely handicapping the quality of the film.

Overall, the premise of Admission is sound, yet the dialogue and whacky plot are too ambitious for their own good. A few cheap laughs every now and then can't overshadow a plot that's un-sustainably choppy and unemotional. Fey and Rudd get average marks for chemistry, but in the end, there's very little value to be seen here.