Greetings again from the darkness. Though it's billed as a comedy, you would be best prepared walking in if you expect a dramatic rom-com. The mere presence of Tina Fey and Paul Rudd would elevate most any script and movie. They are inherently likable and talented, and that's a lucky thing for director Paul Weitz (About a Boy).
The movie plays like a coming-of-age flick ... not for the gaggle of high school students ... but rather for Tina Fey's character. She plays a Princeton admissions officer named Portia Nathan, and it's her job to weed through the files of thousands of over-achieving 18 year olds who are dreaming of attending the prestigious Ivy League school. Her serious approach to her work is complicated by a competition with her inner-office rival (Gloria Reuben) and by a going-nowhere relationship with Michael Sheen.
All of that sounds pretty straight-forward, so it takes a left turn when Portia makes a campus visit to the Quest School, an experimental campus run by ultimate good guy John Pressman (Paul Rudd). Pressman is the guy who rebels against his privileged childhood and bounces from world-changing missions to life-altering experiences. His current stop as an administrator for a school filled with off-beat genius kids is focused on Jeremiah (Nat Wolff). Jeremiah is an autodidact (reads everything) who was never understood by mainstream schools, but has his particular intelligence recognized at Quest.
So Paul Rudd approached Tina Fey in hopes that she will take an interest in Jeremiah's passion for learning and overlook his lack of satisfactory resume. There are also side-plots featuring a possible genetic link and a couple of strained maternal relationships from both Rudd and Fey, the latter's mom played with zeal by Lily Tomlin.
There are no real surprises here, but the movie benefits from Fey, Rudd, Tomlin and the always fun Wallace Shawn. The whole elitist college admissions process is fascinating, but really impacts only a very small segment of society. Because of that, and the limited laughs offered by the script, it's difficult to imagine the film gathering any real following.
The movie plays like a coming-of-age flick ... not for the gaggle of high school students ... but rather for Tina Fey's character. She plays a Princeton admissions officer named Portia Nathan, and it's her job to weed through the files of thousands of over-achieving 18 year olds who are dreaming of attending the prestigious Ivy League school. Her serious approach to her work is complicated by a competition with her inner-office rival (Gloria Reuben) and by a going-nowhere relationship with Michael Sheen.
All of that sounds pretty straight-forward, so it takes a left turn when Portia makes a campus visit to the Quest School, an experimental campus run by ultimate good guy John Pressman (Paul Rudd). Pressman is the guy who rebels against his privileged childhood and bounces from world-changing missions to life-altering experiences. His current stop as an administrator for a school filled with off-beat genius kids is focused on Jeremiah (Nat Wolff). Jeremiah is an autodidact (reads everything) who was never understood by mainstream schools, but has his particular intelligence recognized at Quest.
So Paul Rudd approached Tina Fey in hopes that she will take an interest in Jeremiah's passion for learning and overlook his lack of satisfactory resume. There are also side-plots featuring a possible genetic link and a couple of strained maternal relationships from both Rudd and Fey, the latter's mom played with zeal by Lily Tomlin.
There are no real surprises here, but the movie benefits from Fey, Rudd, Tomlin and the always fun Wallace Shawn. The whole elitist college admissions process is fascinating, but really impacts only a very small segment of society. Because of that, and the limited laughs offered by the script, it's difficult to imagine the film gathering any real following.