Dead Man on Campus Review
by James Sanford (jamessanford AT earthlink DOT net)May 12th, 2000
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, marijuana use in the movies was commonplace, even turning up in such mainstream hits as ``Foul Play,'' ``Trading Places'' and ``9 to 5.''
But in the wake of Nancy Reagan's ``Just Say No'' campaign and a slew of celebrity rehab stints, the film industry responded with pictures like ``Less Than Zero'' and ``Bright Lights, Big City,'' in which drugs equalled tragedy, if not outright death.
Now the pendulum has apparently swung back the other way, prompting such pictures as ``Half Baked'' and ``Dead Man On Campus,'' in which loading a bong or firing up a joint is viewed in the same light as going out for a beer.
Whether this represents Hollywood taking a step forward, backward or sideways is debatable, but the hash-related humor that pervades ``Dead Man'' is the only novel element of an otherwise tedious would-be black comedy. And, unlike ``Half Baked,'' the stoner jokes in ``Dead Man'' are unimaginative and unfunny.
Built around the old collegiate myth about your roommate's suicide guaranteeing you straight `A's in all your classes, the movie introduces freshmen Josh (Tom Everett Scott) and Cooper (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), who party away most of their first semester and then have to scramble to avoid expulsion. Their plan: Bring in a depressed guy to live in their room, drive him to kill himself and then reap the expected academic benefits.
There's potential here for an edgy farce, but since this dreck comes to us courtesy of MTV Films, you don't need a college degree to guess that the hijinks in ``Dead Man'' have a lot more in common with an episode of ``Singled Out'' than with ``In The Company of Men'' or ``The Young Poisoner's Handbook.'' Scott, attempting to ape the young Tom Hanks, and former ``Saved By The Bell'' staple Gosselaar, who has obviously studied the entire Jim Carrey catalog, are left high and dry by a screenplay that puts them through one pointless, laughless scene after another. It's two solid hours of deadwood on the screen, aside from an appearance by Lochlyn Munro as demented frat-boy Cliff, the most psychotic of Josh and Cooper's potential victims.
If there's anyone out there who truly does want to drive someone to self-destruction, keep in mind that repeated screenings of ``Dead Man On Campus'' might be just the ticket to bring on suicidal behavior.
James Sanford
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