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(About Our Ads) "OLD SCHOOL" (2003) (Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Heavy Minor Heavy None Mild Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy None None Heavy Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Extreme Mild Mild Moderate Moderate QUICK TAKE: Comedy: Facing midlife crises, three men decide to start their own fraternity at a nearby college and live their carefree lives once again. PLOT: Mitch (LUKE WILSON) has just come home to find his girlfriend, Heidi (JULIETTE LEWIS), involved in a ménage a trois. His friend Frank (WILL FERRELL) has discovered that married life to Marissa (PERREY REEVES) is crimping his bachelor style and livelihood, while their other friend and successful businessman, Beanie (VINCE VAUGHN), is facing his own midlife crisis, what with the wife, kids and domestic life. Thus, Frank and Beanie are excited when Mitch rents a house near the local college since they see it as their refuge and retreat where they can party like they did back in their earlier, single days. To start things off with a bang, Beanie throws a huge party that's a hit with the college students. Frank ends up drunk and streaking down the street, much to chagrin of Marissa who's driving by. The next morning, Mitch wakes up in bed with Darcie (ELISHA CUTHBERT) who he later learns is an underage high school student. Their party life is soon threatened, however, when their former classmate and the college's current dean, Gordon Pritchard (JEREMY PIVEN), decides to claim the rental house as college property. In response, Beanie decides to turn it into a fraternity house where any students and non-students can join. As that's occurring, Mitch also runs into another former classmate, Nicole (ELLEN POMPEO), who's obviously interested in him despite having a boyfriend, Mark (CRAIG KILBORN). As the guys relive their college days, Pritchard does everything in his power to make sure the fraternity is dissolved. From that point on, the three friends do what they must to make sure their fraternity remains open so that they can continue having fun. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of anyone in the cast or stupid, "Animal House" type comedies, they just might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For some strong sexual content, nudity and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: LUKE WILSON plays a real estate lawyer who moves into a new place after discovering his girlfriend having a ménage a trois. Although reluctant to use his place for parties and then as the fraternity base, he eventually goes along with all of it. He also uses strong profanity, is drunk at a wedding and has sex with an underage girl (not realizing her age). WILL FERRELL plays his newly married friend who's found that matrimony hampers his bachelor lifestyle. He eventually moves into the frat house after getting drunk and having his wife catching him streaking down the road at night. He also uses strong profanity. VINCE VAUGHN plays their wealthy, family man friend who's the one who comes up with the idea for the fraternity and throws parties, etc. He uses strong profanity and drinks. ELLEN POMPEO plays Mitch's former classmate and single mom who's back on the scene and finds herself interested in him despite having a boyfriend. JULIETTE LEWIS plays Mitch's girlfriend whom he discovers having a ménage a trois. PERREY REEVES plays Frank's new wife who isn't happy with the way he's acting. CRAIG KILBORN plays Nicole's jerk of a boyfriend. JEREMY PIVEN plays the college's Dean who has it out for the guys and will do anything and everything to have their fraternity dissolved. ELISHA CUTHBERT plays a high school girl who sleeps with Mitch after a party (he didn't realize her age). CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated comedy. Profanity consists of at least 14 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also used. Sexually related dialogue is present, as is related activity. That includes the sight and sounds of a porno tape on TV (with movement, sounds and nudity) before an intended ménage a trois, and a man waking up in bed with what turns out to be an underage girl. Sexually related comedy includes a female to male oral sex class (using vegetables and then the sight of what looks like real oral sex due to the camera angle) and the sight of a full-sized female sex doll. Other nudity includes repeated sights of a naked man streaking (mostly bare butt, but one brief full frontal from a distance), as well as two bare-breasted women in a pool of personal lubricant. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, and they, like the violence (some fighting, hitting and struggling, etc.) are all played for laughs. Various characters smoke and/or drink, some to the point of drunkenness. Meanwhile some imitative behavior and tense family moments are also present. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE A fellow real estate lawyer asks Mitch if he can have his convention badge (when Mitch is leaving) since it's worth two free drinks. We see a bottle of wine and some in a glass at Mitch's place when he returns home. Mitch has a drink at a wedding reception (where others also drink) and appears a bit drunk. Later, Mitch and Beanie drink beer at the reception. Frank has a beer can on top of the car on which he's working (while wearing a Pabst Blue Ribbon t-shirt). His wife reminds him of being known as "Frank the Tank" and doesn't want him to return to those drinking ways at a party. The word "beer" is prominently displayed on a flier for a party at Mitch's place. We then see many people, including Mitch and Beanie, drinking at the party. Several people drink beer from a beer bong and then encourage Frank to do the same. He turns them down at first but then eagerly joins in and drinks a great deal of beer from it. More drinking continues, including by Frank who's now drunk. Frank has a beer. Marissa and others have wine. Mitch, Beanie and Frank drink beer at a party. Frank has a beer. Various people drink beer. BLOOD/GORE We see a large tranquilizer dart sticking out of Frank's neck (no blood, but the sight might be unsettling for the queasy). Pritchard has a little bit on his face and Frank has some around his mouth (along with other red marks on their faces) after briefly fighting/tussling. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Everything that's listed here is played for laughs and not realism. Mitch's girlfriend cheats on him with several other people. A person uses the term "faggot." Beanie repeatedly tries to talk Frank out of getting married during the marriage ceremony. Nicole's boyfriend cheats on her and then tries to blame Mitch for being the one with the woman. The Dean tries to coerce and then bribe the student council president to kick out the guys' fraternity and then later reneges on the bribe. He also uses a different Asian surname to refer to her (rather than the correct one). Mitch briefly talks down to his boss while getting his coworkers to help with a non-work matter. Beanie doesn't want to help his frat brothers who are students who've just been kicked out of school. Beanie and other frat members cheat on a test by using a microphone and earpieces to ask and hear the answers from others outside the room. The film has the most obese frat member be the one chosen to perform the gymnastics vault (although he lands it perfectly). FRIGHTENING SCENES None. GUNS/WEAPONS Automatic weapon: Held by a national guardsman on Mitch at the airport while going through security. Tranquilizer gun: Accidentally used by Frank to shoot himself in the neck. We see a painting of Dean Pritchard holding a hunting rifle or shotgun. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "A little f*cked up," "I'll f*cking kill you," "What the f*ck?" "F*ckers," "Ring the f*cking bell you pansy," "Love, it's a m*therf*cker," "Oh, sh*t," "Stop being such a faggot," "Kick ass," "What the hell /are you doing (here)/is going on here?" "Jeez," "Bitch," "Balls" (testicles), "Whore," "Sucks," "Black-balling," "Piece of crap," "(Crazy) Bastard," "Nuts" (crazy), "Chicks" (women), "Shut up," "We're screwed," "Losers," "Idiot," "Screw" (nonsexual), "Jackass" and "Freak out." Beanie coughs out the words "Don't do it" at Frank's wedding. Beanie drives a van like a madman as he, Frank and Mitch abduct their various pledges while wearing pantyhose over their heads. As part of their hazing, various pledges have cinder blocks tied to their penises and are to throw those blocks off a roof and hope that they hit the ground before the ropes go taut. We see that the frat has organized the KY-Jelly wrestling match in their basement where a kids swimming pool has been filled with the lubricant. Beanie and other frat members cheat on a test by using a microphone and earpieces to ask and hear the answers from others outside the room. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) None. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) A singer at a wedding reception inserts at least 3 "f" words into well-known songs he performs. Beyond that, some songs have lyrics that couldn't be understood, thus offering the possibility of potentially objectionable material in them. PROFANITY At least 14 "f" words (1 used with "mother"), 3 "s" words, 3 slang terms using male genitals ("c*ck," "d*ck" and "pr*ck"), 1 slang term for sex ("hook up"), 5 asses (1 used with "hole"), 5 damns, 5 hells, 1 crap, 1 S.O.B., 6 uses of "Oh my God," 5 of "Jesus," 4 of "Oh God" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "Jesus Christ" and "My God" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY Mitch returns home early from a convention and hears sexual sounds coming from the bedroom. Fearing the worst, he walks in to find his girlfriend in bed watching a porno tape (which we see with a torso shot of a man having sex on top of a woman with movement, sounds and views of her bare breasts). Mitch is relieved that Heidi isn't having an affair and states that it's "a major turn on." He then asks if this is what she does when he's gone and states that he does sometimes himself, but with magazines. As he says that, we see two blindfolded people (a man and woman) come out of the bathroom, apparently ready for a threesome (the woman is in just her panties and her arms cover her bare breasts). Later, Mitch asks Heidi about that and she says she tried to tell him in bed that she wasn't satisfied. He says that he thought she was just talking dirty and then adds that it was some "sick stuff." She states that it's purely sexual and satisfying to her. A person then rings the doorbell and tells Mitch, "I'm here for the gang-bang." At Frank's wedding, Beanie asks Mitch if he knows how hard it is to land a girl as sexually enlightened as Heidi is. He then tries to talk Frank out of getting married and tells him that he'll only get one vagina for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, the bride shows some cleavage (as do a few others at the reception). After a drunken Mitch spills coffee on Nicole's crotch at a wedding, he puts his hand up inside her dress to try to clean it off. Later, while giving the best man speech, Mitch comments on finding love and then finding others "double teaming your girlfriend." After seeing Mitch's new house near a college campus, Beanie says that they could "get so much ass here" and refers to it as "boy band ass." Beanie jokingly makes an announcement at a party that Mitch is on the market again and disease free. While drunk, Frank licks a woman's face and then shows up completely nude at a party, announcing, "We're going streaking." We see the side of his bare butt and then people's heads at the party block our view of his crotch area. As he runs off, however, we see a brief full frontal view of him from a distance. As Marissa drives some of her girlfriends, one of them comments on a guy who gives a "blow job class." Another woman mentions that her man should go to the class since he's "Orally challenged." The women then spot Frank running down the road naked while drunk (from behind and we see many views of his bare butt). Marissa eventually figures out it's him and orders him into the truck. As he does so (in the backseat with two women), he enters butt-first (thus more views) and one of the women jokingly says that it must be "cold out there" while briefly looking down at his crotch. Matt wakes up in bed with a young student (to his surprise). We then see a brief shot from the foot of the bed looking at them that shows her rear end in her small panties (as she lies on her stomach) and then see her in her panties again as she stands to get dressed. She states they were just having fun and doesn't even leave him her number as she leaves. He later learns that not only is she his boss' daughter, but that she's still in high school. Frank and his wife see a marriage counselor where they're told they can say anything. Accordingly, Frank states that marriage is hard (having to be with just one woman) and comments about wondering about the type and color of a waitress' panties. He then complains that by being married he'll have sex with only one person for the rest of his life. As part of their hazing, various pledges have cinder blocks tied to their penises (we don't see them, but do see some occasional bare butts) and are to throw those blocks off a roof and hope that they hit the ground before the ropes go taut. One of Mitch's coworkers says he heard that Mitch "hooked up" with their boss' daughter. Frank walks out of the frat house carrying a full-size sex doll (with open mouth) and wonders what outfit he should put on it. A male instructor tells various women that the secret of a "good BJ is focus" as we see a large illustration for the class that shows a woman kneeling at a guy's crotch as he stands. After what sounded like a homosexual reference, he then tells them to practice on the various phallic like vegetables they hold. Marissa and others then rhythmically move those vegetables in and out of their mouths and then act as if they're holding and squeezing imaginary testicles while doing so. Frank then comes home and looks through the window where he sees what looks like Marissa performing oral sex on the instructor (based on the angle of him standing and her head moving in the line of sight of his crotch). A comment is made about "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Penis." Mitch walks in on a guy kissing a waitress while standing between her legs as she sits on the bathroom vanity. We see Frank coming out of a hallucination and French kissing a guy who was giving him CPR (the guy reacts in disgust). We see that the frat has organized the KY-Jelly wrestling match in their basement where a kids swimming pool has been filled with the lubricant. An old man (also a frat member) is scheduled to go up against two young, scantily clad women who then remove their tops to reveal their bare breasts. He just stares at them and then falls over backwards, dead. A woman appears ready to have sex with Beanie (she's on a bed with him and kisses him), but he states that he's married and can't do that. We see Frank in just his briefs in the locker room. SMOKING Beanie smokes several times, while Heidi, Frank, Mark and a miscellaneous person each smoke once. A comment is made that Nicole used to smoke. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Frank and Marissa's marriage is rocky and she eventually states she wants a divorce. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Midlife crises. Fraternities and hazing. Binge drinking. Casual sex. VIOLENCE Everything that's listed here is played for laughs. A cabbie purposefully accelerates quickly so that Mitch's face slams into the plastic/glass divider between the front and back seat. Frank accidentally breaks something in a kitchen with a hockey stick. Beanie drives a van like a madman as he, Frank and Mitch abduct their various pledges. During that, he runs over a campus signpost, one of them tackles a guy into a body of water, and he runs into a grocery shopping cart. As part of their hazing, various pledges have cinder blocks tied to their penises and are to throw those blocks off a roof and hope that they hit the ground before the ropes go taut. One pledge's block goes through a manhole cover and the pledge is yanked to the ground below. Frank sneaks up on a guy he believes has been fooling around with his wife. He then wraps a towel around the guy's neck, but the guy then flips him over onto the kitchen floor and then clocks him on the head with something. Frank accidentally shoots himself in the neck with a tranquilizer gun and then falls to the ground. He then gets up and stumbles about, throws a kid to the side and then falls into a pool. After he hallucinates and tries to French kiss the guy giving him CPR, that guy kicks Frank who rolls back into the pool. During a KY-Jelly wrestling contest, a woman punches and then kicks Mitch. While dressed in the school mascot costume, Frank catches on fire while jumping through a burning hoop (nothing explicit and played for laughs). Dean Pritchard smacks Frank, punches him in the gut and then bashes his head into a glass display case (all while trying to flee from Frank and others). The two then struggle in an auditorium classroom and fall down the steps. They then struggle on the floor. A car crashes, goes over a bridge and lands on top of a man fishing below it in a boat. It then explodes (all played for laughs). Reviewed February 13, 2003 / Posted February 21, 2003