Joel Siegel: 'Old School' Spirit
Feb. 21 -- Now in theaters: Old School, The Life of David Gale, Dark Blue and Gods and Generals.
Old School —
When I heard about Old School — about three guys in their 30s opening a fraternity house — I figured it would be one more gross-out movie, filled with mean-spirited bodily fluid jokes, trying to see how far they can lower the bar on basic human decency.
I braced myself for one of those movies that, if you're old enough to get into see it, you're too old to want to watch it. But it's my job. I went. I sat through the whole thing. And here, America, is the kiss of death — this should kill Old School for teenagers if anything can:
I liked it. I laughed. A lot. And loud.
Unlike other college kid comedies, the humor's never cruel. Not even the gross-out gags. The three leads — Luke Wilson, Will Farrell and Vince Vaughn — are awful good actors and maintain their dignity (Vaughn's performance made me want to watch Swingers all over again.) In two words: Funn … neee. Grade: B.
The Life of David Gale — The Life of David Gale is a whodunit disguised as an anti-capital punishment screed. I never try to figure out whodunit while I'm watching a film. I don't think it's fair for a critic. Also … when I do I'm almost always wrong.
But I figured out whodunit watching the commercial for this movie. Kevin Spacey , an anti-capital-punishment philosophy professor is convicted of a rape and murder and is on death row. Kate Winslet plays plays a reporter who interviews him for a news weekly (and $500,000). She doesn't figure out whodunit because in Hollywood they think movie producers are smarter than reporters. They're not. You know who else is smarter than movie producers? Audiences. Grade: The A-list cast gets an A. The movie gets a C (and I don't mean S-E-E).
Dark Blue —
Dark Blue isn't good cop, bad cop. It's bad cop, worse cop. Kurt Russell goads his rookie partner into committing murder — on orders from LAPD higher-ups.
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