What The Critics Said.

"An extremely funny and, of course, socially unredeemable comedy." Desson Howe WASHINGTON POST "I can't believe it, but I want to see it again." Karina Montgomery CINERINA "Yes, it is morally bankrupt and completely politically incorrect. But what can I say, I laughed." Nell Minow MOVIE MOM "Yeah, it's predictable, but so what? The laughs come thick and fast and Ferrell is a hoot, the supporting cast works really well and the jokes work." Eric Lurio GREENWICH VILLAGE GAZETTE "Movies like 'Old School' are no masterpieces, but a guy like Will Ferrell is able to somehow lift them up beyond mediocrity into hilarity." Kevin N Laforest MONTREAL FILM JOURNAL

"In an era when a viewer is lucky to find one or two humorous moments during the course of a 90-minute so-called 'comedy,' Old School delivers with surprising effectiveness." James Berardinelli JAMES BERARDINELLI'S REELVIEWS "'Sloppy, but it delivers big laughs on a consistent basis.'" Edward Johnson-Ott NUVO NEWSWEEKLY "Old School is a silly, naughty, childish and likeable film..." Tony Toscano TALKING PICTURES "a cheerful, unapologetically goofy comedy that manages to get a reasonable share of laughs without constantly leaning on gross-out gags" James Sanford, KALAMAZOO GAZETTE "It's a hilariously funny and unexpectedly warm look at three men who just want to be boys again." Jamie Russell BBCI FILMS

At A Glance

"Is "Old School" worth the price of admission? Yes it is, but only if you feel like laughing. Don’t expect brilliant acting, but do expect to chuckle out loud." Dan Marcucci & Nancy Serougi BROOMFIELD ENTERPRISE

What has drinking, streaking, blowup dolls, jello wrestling with half naked chicks, silly initiations, and sex with nubile young girls. Yes you are right, your every day run of the mill stock standard yankee college film. Usually aimed at the teen market the college flick has now gone upmarket and moved into the domain of grown-ups entertainment. But don't get too excited because there's nothing too grownup when it comes to "Old School" unless of course you mean that the actors are 'grown-ups'. So does the idea of having the older generation hanging around the campus work any better than what we've seen foisted on our impressionable teenagers in recent years? Well I have to be truthful. Like George Washington, who when caught with an axe in his hand beside a recently chopped down tree, I cannot lie, the answer is no! Given there is enough in "Old School" to just get by with, in the end this is like eating a meal which has too many empty calories in it. I mean, if you don't mind spending your money on something mediocre then go for it but films like "Old School" really don't fill you up. There's no protein here to digest slowly, this is like eating a Mars bar and washing it down with a Coke, you get a big sugar rush, a 'sugar high' and then you feel flat. Besides that, the three 'stars', Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn are as appealing as a flat chested stripper at a bucks night. In twenty years time these three guys will be buying back every copy of "Old School" they can and using them to feed the flames of a bloody big bonfire. I mean, if your going to give us a college film guys [and I've said it before] make sure you have all the ingredients to make it work because "Old School" is 'old hat'. So why make a film like "Old School? The comedy "Old School" brings writer/director Todd Phillips back to the setting of his award-winning documentary film "Frat House", while allowing him to take the story to the next generation…so to speak. Phillips explains, "These aren’t college kids. These are three guys in their thirties who are at that point in their lives when they have to choose what path they’re going to take. In a nutshell, it’s responsibility versus irresponsibility. So they take what most people would consider to be a step backwards and devolve over the course of the story, but it ends up being to their advantage." "Frat House" was, in fact, the inspiration for "Old School", though Phillips admits it didn’t begin with him. "The genesis of this film was inspired by a friend of mine in the advertising industry named Court Crandall. He loved "Frat House", and one day he said to me, 'You know what would be funny is a movie about older guys who start a fraternity of their own.' I told him he should write it, and he came back with a loose version of what eventually became Old School." To write the screenplay for "Old School", Phillips once again collaborated with Scot Armstrong, with whom he co-wrote the comedy hit "Road Trip". Armstrong reveals that for this script, he was able to pull from his own past. "Yes, I admit it, I was in a fraternity," he said. "We were in Peoria, Illinois, so it was up to us to entertain ourselves; a lot of ideas for "Old School" came from things that really happened. When it was cold, everyone would go stir crazy and it inspired some moments of brilliance. Of course, my definition of ‘brilliance’ might be different from other people’s. When you think about it, adults acting juvenile is kind of what college is all about." The film also reunited Phillips with the team at The Montecito Picture Company who produced his major film debut "Road Trip", including executive producers Ivan Reitman and Tom Pollock, and producers Daniel Goldberg and Joe Medjuck. "Ivan is amazing," Phillips attests. "He’s a great developer of scripts and he helped Scot and me more than anything. He really knows plot structure and character development and all the nuts and bolts of writing a great comedy that Scot and I are, frankly, still learning. He’s just on top of it. In fact Scot and I called it '‘boot camp', because we were at his house, writing and rewriting every day for two months." "After the success of "Road Trip", we very much wanted to work with Todd again. When he brought us this script, we thought it was a great idea. And as a director, it’s clear that Todd gets the joke, which is harder than it sounds. Not every director knows what’s funny. I really believe Todd knows what’s funny," Pollock says. "Todd not only knows where the joke is, he has a really fine casting sense," Reitman said. From the start, Phillips had three names in mind: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn, starting with Vaughn. "Vince was the guy I wanted from day one. I think he’s one of the funniest actors around, which has gone pretty much untapped, at least in the mainstream. Once we had Vince, I thought it would be amazing if we could get Will and Luke, and it all just fell into place. I feel very lucky. These guys all come from different places and their comedy is different, too, but the chemistry was just perfect," Phillips recalls. Goldberg acknowledges, "It might seem like unconventional casting. I mean, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell and Luke Wilson are three actors you might not think of together normally, but they really worked well as a team. When we started shooting, we could see how interesting they were together, and it really transcended the script. It was even funnier than it was on the page, and to our surprise, some of the humor ended up coming from much more subtle things." “There is something in their energies that mixes together to create something that’s delicious to watch," Reitman notes. "The cockiness of Vince Vaughn is a perfect foil to the kind of innocence of Will Ferrell. And then you have Luke Wilson, God bless him, who is right down the middle and is the glue that holds this unusual ensemble together." Will Ferrell, describes his character as "a big teddy bear of a guy. He is getting married, but even at the alter, he doesn’t really know if it’s the right thing. He has this alter ego, 'Frank the Tank', from his past party days, who is not quite out of his system. Over the course of the film, ‘Frank the Tank’ takes over and pretty much wrecks his marriage. But that’s okay; we don’t really want to see Frank married." Vaughn’s says his character, Beanie, is the most settled of the trio, with a wife and kids. "He is a married man, but when he helps start a fraternity to help Mitch meet girls and have some fun, Beanie also becomes tempted by being around that atmosphere. Beanie owns Speaker City. He’s a salesman, kind of a hustler, but I think he’s ultimately a good guy." The Story There's nothing worse than coming home after a hard day at the office to find the little lady naked in bed and enjoying sex with two total strangers. What is a guy to do. Well its obvious. Either join in or leave home. Mitch has now seperated from longtime girlfriend Heidi and has moved into a house near the local campus and to celebrate his new 'freedom' Mitch's two best pals Beanie and Frank throw him a huge house warming party. But it seems there are those who don't want Mitch in the neighbourhood, in particular Dean Pritchard who is threatening to cancel the lease on a technicality. That is until the guys learn they can stay if the premise reverts to a Fraternity House. It isn't long before the house is jumping and the membership is swelling fast. But Dean Pritchard doesn't give up that easy. He's found a way to get rid of the guys and the so-called frat members. Unfortunately for the Dean, the frat house guys are about to fight back. The Verdict "It's funny in parts, but you know what, the laughs aren't the hearty type and that's the whole thing about "Old School", it just ain't funny enough. It's like Hollywood has run out of ideas for those crappy teen college flicks they've been flogging to teenagers for years and suddenly someone had a brainwave, lets run the same old crap past them but this time we'll use adults instead. Thankfully the adult stars manage to rustle up enough moments to make the implausable, improbable, mediocre "Old School" a passable campus experience. But don't believe me, you know I'm just a cranky old bastard. Go see it for yourself. And when you have seen "Old School" drop me a line and tell me what 'you' thought of it." The Cast & Crew

Luke Wilson Will Ferrell Vince Vaughn Jeremy Piven Ellen Pompeo Leah Remini Perrey Reeves Craig Kilborn Elisha Cuthbert Sara Tanaka Matt Walsh Artie Lange Patrick Fischler Harve Presnell Juliette Lewis Katherine Ellis Phe Caplan Sarah Shahi Kristen Kerr Dan Finnerty Greg Alan Williams

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Mitch Martin 'The Godfather' Frank 'the Tank' Beanie Dean Gordon Pritchard Nicole Lara Marissa Mark ElDarcy Goldberg Megan Huang Walsh Booker Michael Mr Springbrook Heidi Amy Julie Erica Lisa Wedding Singer (Dan) Therapist

Directed by Todd Phillips Written by Court Crandall/Todd Phillips& Scot Armstrong Screenplay BY Todd Phillips & Scot Armstrong Cinematography by Mark Irwin Film Editing by Michael Jablow Casting by Joseph Middleton Production Design by Clark Hunter Art Direction by Max Biscoe Set Decoration by Traci Kirshbaum Costume Design by Nancy Fisher Production Manager Paul Deason Run Time 91 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2003 - Dreamworks LLC - All Rights Reserved Copyright ©2003 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved