MasterChugs Theater: 'Old School'

Mitch (Luke Wilson) comes home to find his insatiable girlfriend (Juliette Lewis) in the bedroom watching hardcore porn. He thinks all his Christmases have come at once ... until he discovers the two naked strangers she's spending time with. When your girlfriend's hosting a mini-orgy and you're not invited, it's probably time to move on. So begins Old School, an uproarious comedy which follows Mitch and his buddies Frank (Will Ferrell) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn). They decide to drop out of the relationship rat race and rediscover their college years by opening a frat house at the local university.

Of course, this is when hijinks ensue, and the hijinks are hilarious. Just the hazing scenes alone are worth the price of admission. Envision Beanie, Frank, and Mitch, pantyhose on their heads, tearing through the streets of a quiet college town and parking lots of supermarkets in a black A-Team-style van, kidnapping rush pledges. Now that’s gold. But there is also a tender side to these guys. Beanie’s actually a caring dad who uses the codeword “earmuffs” when he wants his kids to cover their ears when he curses. Frank is recently married, and trying to be a good newlywed, despite his “Frank the Tank” past. And Mitch is falling for single mom Nicole (Ellen Pompeo) who’s dating super-jerk Mark (Craig Kilborn).

Starting to sound like Animal House meets Dr. Phil? Maybe. But it works, and the reason why takes me back to the casting. Ferrell plays the nice guy/caged lunatic, unleashing his outrageous comic fury at just the right moments. Vaughn delivers perhaps his funniest, most confident performance since Swingers as the cocksure, true-pal Beanie. He absolutely oozes Trent Walker, spitting out ingenious little improvisations at times; and then surprises us with random moments of quirkiness, like a kid’s birthday party scene where he patrols the lawn with a cocktail glass and dressed as a clown (Shakes, anyone?). And Wilson plays his puppy-dog persona first seen in Bottle Rocket to the hilt, which touchingly bonds these rough-edged buddies together.

Trading on the combined charms of Wilson, Vaughn, and Saturday Night Live's Will Ferrell, not to mention a killing performance from Jeremy Piven as the university's uptight dean, Old School turns out to be something more than just another Road Trip/American Pie rip-off. It's a hilariously funny and unexpectedly warm look at three men who just want to be boys again. With all the silliness that wish entails.