Review of Old School (2003) by Amheretojudge — 13 Nov 2019

So it is about a group not coming but working together. That's the premise and there is no chemistry. And yet I liked it. It is smarter than it pretends to be.

Old School Todd Phillips, the co-writer and director, is one of those filmmakersSo it is about a group not coming but working together. That's the premise and there is no chemistry. And yet I liked it. It is smarter than it pretends to be.

Old School.

Todd Phillips, the co-writer and director, is one of those filmmakers that gets comedy right. We see people take comedy lightly and as a result the comedy starts taking them for granted. As in, even good sketch scenes and one liners have failed repetitively if there is no head or leg to its existence. Over the years, you see these happening.. nay, escalating where you see a series of jokes stitched together in the form of highlight. This post social media world where patience is the last thing on the audience's list.

They are usually gobbling over these attention seeking humor. Where the root and stem is chosen, overpowered by the fruit. But what it, if looked at the bigger picture, shows is that there is no need to endure either the hard work by the audience or put up by the makers. And hence comes these few filmmakers who believes in the entire characters. All sides of it. All dimensions.

Phillips makes sure you see each side of them before you experience the wildness, the mistakes and their surprising skills. In fact, even his jokes work like that. It starts with an innocent or childish or amateur ideas then leads up to its peak and then we are also shown what the aftermath result is. These layers may get unnoticed if you are mesmerised in Will Ferrell's commitment to physical comedy. Old School is old if looked at the ideas it explores. It sounds like an idea that is pitched to the producers to get them all riled up over the script. Luckily, derivation is not a disadvantage but a proud armour.