Accepted Review
by Jerry at the Movies (Faust668 AT msn DOT com)July 13th, 2007
ACCEPTED (2006)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Three stars
Now this was something of a genial surprise in a time when "American Pie" still spawns sequels. "Accepted" is a grand blast of small pleasures and heady laughs at a concise 90 minute timeframe. It is so good-natured, so pleasing, so damn funny that I was shocked I had seen a comedy about teenagers that didn't involve bathroom humor. I would not say "Accepted" is the most sophisticated comedy ever, but it is as smart and sneakily hilarious as any teen comedy I've seen in quite some time.
Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long) is a high-school graduate who has yet to be admitted to a college. His parents fear he will never go to college, as does Bartleby's no-nonsense and perceptive sister (Hannah Marks). So Bartleby makes up a college, has his friends design a clever website promoting it, reconfigures an abandoned mental facility into a pristine college campus, and has an acceptance letter sent to his home to make it all seem legit. His parents buy it, his sister not so much. Bartleby doesn't realize that the website has no way of denying anyone to its fictional campus, South Harmon as it were, and, before you know it, all college rejects from all walks of life sign up and show up for classes. Uh, oh.
What is unique about "Accepted" is that it feels like an 80's comedy, bordering on the sexual innuendoes of "Fraternity High" with the smart characters of "Risky Business," though perhaps funnier. What could've resulted in too many sexual shenanigans and the gross factor of everything post-"American Pie," instead aims for one dramatic situation built on top of another. When Bartleby's parents visit, the mother wants to use the bathroom (unfortunately, there is nothing in there except coils and garbage). When a local, prestigious college called Harmon University wonders why they've never heard of this competing school, an investigation ensues. And guess which school has the better kickass party? And the better classes, such as Doing Nothing 101 and Daydreaming 307?
Justin Long ("Idiocracy," "Jeepers Creepers") keeps the comedy afloat with his easygoing personality and nervous titter as Bartleby - you just hope he can get away with such madness. Also worth noting is Jonah Hill as Sherman, Bartleby's childhood rotund friend who is attending Harmon U. despite not fitting in to the preppiness. He is good for a few laughs, especially when he dresses as a wiener and says, "Ask me about wiener!" And there is the priceless Lewis Black as the fake dean who tells it like it is. Not all the supporting characters are memorable and some barely register in the cabeza, especially the pleasing face of Blake Lively (a carbon copy of Helen Hunt if that can be imagined) as the blonde Bartleby dreams about (she was also the weakest element of "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants").
Okay, so it is an immature comedy, but it is also smartly immature about itself. And when we get to the final scene where acceptance and accreditation should go to the school least likely, we know "Accepted" is more than the sum of its parts. Some may see it as preachy and serious-minded - I see it as an alternative idea for schooling that should be approached.
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