Accepted DVD Review (Justin Long) Empire Movies

ACCEPTED DVD REVIEW

Accepted
(Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

7/10

6/10

Liam

Accepted stars up-and-coming comic talent Justin Long as Bartleby "B" Gaines, a fresh out of high school student who finds that getting into college isn't going to be as easy as he'd thought. Why not? Because he gets rejected by every single school he's applied to. Under pressure from his parents, Bartleby decides to make up his own post secondary school -- the South Harmon Institute of Technology (or S.H.I.T. for short). He creates an official-looking acceptance letter and has a friend create a mock website and voila -- his parents are fooled. When Bartleby's parents insist on dropping him of at his new school, Bartleby scrambles to turn an old mental institution into an institution of higher learning. Things take a further turn when word of S.H.I.T. gets out and people from all over begin showing up for class, unaware that the people behind S.H.I.T are really just a bunch of shitters. However, money talks and Bartleby has a bit of a hard time turning down the tuition fees these students are willing to pay. When he begins accepting students, he quickly finds out that you don't really need to be the greatest student to learn a lesson or two.

Accepted is a good example that movies don't need big stars, big directors and big budgets to be entertaining. Sure, the movie uses just about the same formula as every other high school/college comedy ever made (ie. "American Pie" or "Animal House") but if the formula works, why mess with it? You pretty much know what's going to happen in the first 5 minutes of the movie, but it doesn't matter. You put in the movie, you shut off your brain, and you enjoy. If you're looking for anything more, you've got the wrong movie.

Bonus features on this DVD begin with "Adam's Accepted Chronicles" which follows actor Adam Herschman as he goofs around on the set of the movie. This is followed by "Reject Rejection: The Making of Accepted" which is your usual making-of piece featuring cast and crew interviews and such. Next, we get a "Self Guided Campus Tour" which is a series of mini-featurettes about the different aspects of S.H.I.T. Features are rounded out by a couple of music videos, some deleted scenes and a gag reel. There's also a feature-length commentary with director Steve Pink as well as stars Justin Long, Lewis Black, Jonah Hill and Adam Herschman which is worth a few laughs if you're willing to sit through the movie a 2nd time.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying this movie is anywhere near as good as the previously mentioned "American Pie" or "Animal House" -- it just follows the same basic format -- and there's nothing wrong with that. The movie is good for more than a few good chuckles and you can't really ask for anything more.

You might remember the "Homer Goes to College" episode of "The Simpsons" (ie. "Your bra bomb better work, Nerdlinger!" and the great Dean Bitterman character). I kinda liken this flick to that episode -- which makes me think that Homer Simpson would approve of this movie. And if Homer Simpson would approve, who am I to argue?

Features
Deleted Scenes
Gag Reel
Reject Rejection: The Making of Accepted

Video
Widescreen (2.35:1)

Audio
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles
English SDH
Spanish
French

Release Date
November 14, 2006

Rating
PG-13

Length
93 mins.

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