Review of School for Scoundrels (2006) by Justin M — 02 Jun 2009

Now here's a comedy that flew right under the radar. It's like Fight Club for laffs -- the kind of movie I knew would be a Todd Phillips flick before his name even came up. Thornton is hampered mildly by the rating (are you spotting a trend here? It seems like I can't get through reviewing a 2006 comedy without saying how better served it would be by a hard R), but could anyone else play this role? I think not.

Heder, who I absolutely loathe, is probably at his best here, hitting all the right notes the role demands without approaching the level of suicide-inducing annoyance as seen in Napoleon Dynamite, Just Like Heaven, or The Benchwarmers.

That I even managed to enjoy the movie at all -- and not in spite of his presence -- says a lot about the job Phillips has done here. It's a very funny film, bolstered by a stellar supporting cast including David Cross, Sarah Silverman, Todd Louiso, Horatio Sanz, Michael Clark Duncan, and a pinch-hitting Ben Stiller.

It's a formula movie through and through, and mirrors Anger Management in a number of ways, but this one is much funnier.