Accepted

Review by David Bjerre

Rating

Designations & Trivia

Genre: Fancy Free

Keywords:
College experience, faking ID, nerds

Did you know that...
The word "shit" is being used 62 times in the film.

THE STORY

Problem: Bartleby Gaines has been rejected by seven colleges and now all his hopes and his entire future hang on his eighth and final application. His father makes it clear that if he doesn't go to college he will shame the family, but the thing is... Bartleby is not really a grade-A student per se. Oh, he excels alright, but mostly in clever schemes that make his life easier, like the time he convinced his gym teacher that he was allergic to sweat!

The letter from that last college finaly arrives, but when Bartleby opens it he's confronted by that all too familiar line: "We regret to inform you....". Sigh. Something has to be done. He can't under any circumstances tell his parents the truth. It turns out that most of his close friends didn't get into college either. Only the brainy Sherman got his ticket to a higher education - he was accepted by the prestigious Harmon College - but everyone else is facing the same problem as Bartleby.

Solution: To get his parents off his back and buy some time, Bartleby fires up his computer and makes some fake acceptance papers. He invents a new college, The South Harmon Institute of Technology (yup, that's S.H.I.T. for short) and even gets Sherman to make him a fake website, so his parents will be convinced that it's a legitimate institution if they decide to check out this new school. Bartleby's friends are impressed and they want in too, so he makes them a set of acceptance papers as well. It all goes surprisingly well. That is until his father utters that fateful sentence: "Your mother and I can't wait to drop you off".

Faking college papers? Easy! But faking a whole college!? That takes skill... and hard work. Bartleby and his gang waste no time. They rent an abandoned mental hospital and fix it up just enough to sell the idea that this is in fact a working college. They also hire Sherman's angry uncle Ben to pose as fake Dean of this fake college and thus everything is ready for the parents. But soon the situation escalates again. Suddenly SH.I.T. is swarmed by students who also got accepted to the "school" due to a slight programming error on the website. To add to the pressure the Dean of Harman College begins to take an interest in this new institution.

And then something strange happens: Against all odds S.H.I.T. turns into a real college. An unorthodox and borderline illegal college, but a college nonetheless. All the rejects unite behind Bartleby with a common goal: A school that has room for those that don't fit in anywhere else. A school that dares to be different.

REVIEW

Welcome to South Harmon Institute of Technology! Our curriculum is whatever the hell you want it to be. We accept everyone who's been rejected by others. There's no homework, and you can do as you please when you please. Now, THAT is higher education! Don't you wish there was a place like that in the real world?

Following on the heels of classic comedies such as "Animal House" and "Revenge of the Nerds" "Accepted" attempts to take the fratboy genre in a new direction and explores what would happen if the rejects took their education into their own hands. It's great idea and it's great to watch a college comedy that isn't just about drinking and getting laid. Here's a film that actually dares to ask: "what would you like your future to be?" Oh, there's still drinking of course, and plenty of it too, but the film is not ONLY about that, which is nice for a change.

The irony of turning a mental hospital into a school will not be lost on even the most casual viewer. Especially in the light of this searing attack on the American educational system. Fratboy antics notwithstanding this film has something to say. When Bartleby realizes how many students have been rejected by the system, he takes a tour of the other schools in the area to figure out what that college experience is all about. What he finds in fear, boredom, uncertainty, conformity, and no room to dream. That's when he comes upon the ingenious concept· Ask the students what they want to learn. This is the idea that forms the base of the film.

Of course we shouldn't forget that "Accepted" is also a crazy, funny, wild film, full of more or less insane characters (It pays to keep an eye on the background. Something always happens there), so you can easily watch the film without paying any attention to the issues it raises. If you so desire you can simply lean back and enjoy the great campus feeling that develops in the film, as all the rejects settle in and the student body begins to take shape. It's all up to you... In the true spirit of S.H.I.T.

CHARACTERS

Justin Long is a charming devil in the lead role as Bartleby. He first came to my attention in "Galaxy Quest" where he played a nerdy sci-fi fanboy with heart and without mocking the character. In fact he's very good at finding the heart in the characters he plays without making funny faces or acting like a buffoon. And he's all the more endearing for it.

Lewis Black is perfectly cast as the fake Dean. His foul mouthed ravings against society is only matched by the accuracy of his observations. Regular viewers of the political comedy show "The Daily Show" will recognize him has the angry wildly gesturing commentator, who - in the spirit of Andy Rooney, albeit not quite in the same tongue - has a go at some of the things that bugs us all or a more or less regular basis.

Then of course there's the object of Bartleby's affection, Monica, played by Blake Lively. She is still as tall, blond, and stunning as she was in "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants". I really have to pinch myself every time I lay eyes on her. This girl is a goddess.

WRAP-UP

"Accepted" is a far better film than it should be. It'll speak to anyone who's ever felt out of place in the educational system or anyone who ever looked up from a book in school and wondered "Am I ever gonna use this for anything?"

The film ends in a fantastic climax where Bartleby and his cohorts must go before the Board of Education and defend their "college" in the final indictment of the system. It's the perfect ending to near perfect film!

"Accepted" will send you away feeling like a million bucks. Guaranteed. I'll bet my college fund on it.