Movie Review: Accepted

Sometimes, Martin goes to the movies. And you know what? He tells you what he thinks about them. That's awesome! It's...

RANT AT THE SCREEN!

Today's film is Accepted. This flick just about slipped out of theaters without me seeing it, but has amazingly hung on into late September while having started in July, so I knew something was up. And I was not disappointed.

Accepted stars Justin Long, who leads a mostly young adult/teen cast, notably added to by Lewis Black. What follows is a film that contains elements of Revenge of the Nerds, Back to School and Animal House in premise, yet the execution slides sideways into its own movie. Justin has been denied from every college he's applied to, garnering infinite scorn from his parents and younger sister. In an effort to stem the tide of parental disapproval, Long and his friends create a cover identity - The South Harmon Institute of Technology. The cover is working wonderfully until an actual student body shows up, and the BS job turns into something legitimate.

Arguably, the movie is a paint-by-numbers film. Like all college films of note, the major turns are hit... 1. Conflict with Evil Dean / Fraternity, 2. Hazing is Bad/Stupid, 3. I love the girl that frat guy has, and should have her before the end of the film, 4. Big Party Sequence, 5. Prove ourselves before the court.
In this regard, the film echoes films greater than itself, but to great effect. Many cliches for college films are turned at least slightly askew by the nature of the plot.

The film really does quite a lot with very little. A couple montages really move the plot forward, especially establishing the South Harmon Institute of Technology as a 'Real' school, and many of the minor characters. And honestly, Long's charisma keeps the film going where it would fall down, and allows for absolute hilarity in concert with many of the minor characters (including the old army guy who wants to rock, the ex-stripper, and the guy who wants to blow things up with his mind). Particularly delightful are Lewis Black's interjections into the film, which are thankfully numerous and well-written.

I'd get Accepted into four out of five colleges.