Written by Fumo Verde
Hey, peoples. This is Fumo with my buddy Ferg. Say, “Hi,” Ferg.
Ferg: Hi.
Ferg and I just finished watching Accepted, which stars Justin Long (The Mac from the Mac/PC commercials) and stand-up comedian Lewis Black. This flick came out in the theaters a while ago but is now on DVD. When Ferg and I saw the trailers, we thought this would be kind of funny, but we didn't think that it would have been "ten dollars in the theater" funny, so as soon as it hit the disc, we were on it. We were right. It’s funny with lots of good laughs, but it also has an underlying statement. The whole thought that only those who go to the best colleges get the best jobs, and statistically speaking, this is true, but they don’t necessarily the best education.
It stars Justin Long as Bartelby Gains, a quick-witted youth who couldn't get accepted to any of the colleges he applied for. Nor do his friends Hands, played by Columbus Short, and Rory, played by Maria Thayer. To fool their parents, Bartelby creates a fake acceptance letter from the South Harmon Institute of Technology or S.H.I.T. He gains the help of his best friend Sherman (Jonah Hill) to help him build a website and set up a bank account because Bartelby knows his dad will check in on all this. The scam becomes even more elaborate when Bartleby and his cohorts lease a building, clean it up, and rent other students to stand around to make it look like a real college campus. Lewis Black comes in as a washed up professor and is paid to act as dean of students.
All goes well, until hundreds of kids show up at the door saying that they too were accepted to S.H.I.T. Now Bartelby and his buddies have to either tell everyone that the school is all a lie, or start up a college. The zaniness begins as Bartelby has the students choose what classes they would like to attend. There are classes like Bullshitting 232 and Rock Your Face Off 101. Shit, if I knew there were classes like that I would still be at college.
The whole thing is kind of corny with four kids cleaning up a building and getting their college-educated parents into falling for their little ruse. It's all kind of hard to believe, but it still has its moments. The acting is good and Lewis Black is fucking hilarious as the dean of students. He holds court outside of his trailer that is parked in the back of the campus, giving dissertations on life and what it means to be an American in this day and age.
Sherman Schrader (Hill) is awesome, especially when he had to dress up in a hotdog suit and would yell to students passing by "Ask me about my wiener." Here is where the subtext comes in. Even though Sherman got accepted to the college he wanted, it's not working out the way he was told it would be. He is still considered an outcast and is struggling now to get accepted by his fellow students.
Since the movie Animal House college comedies have fallen short, and although Accepted doesn’t come close, and what would with a PG-13 rating, it does have some good jokes and funny scenes. The cast is funny and they all play their parts well, especially Long, Hill, and Black.
The extras are cool, too. There's a map of S.H.I.T. to cruise the campus and check out the behind the scenes action, as well as a gag reel and interviews. This is good for one of those nights where there's nothing on TV and you don't feel like doing much. Pop this in, pack a bowl, sit back and get ready for some corny laughs that will get a tear or two to run from your eye.
This is Fumo saying, “Good night.” Oh yeah, Ferg did you want to add anything?
Ferg: I liked the fact that the school mascot was a sandwich. Get it a Shit sandwich. I like sandwiches.
