Directed by: Todd Phillips
Written by: Todd Phillips, Scot Armstrong and Stephen Potter
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Heder, Jacinda Barrett, Michael Clarke Duncan, Horatio Sanz

Distributor: MGM
Budget: $20 Million (estimated)
Genre: Comedy, Remake
Rating: PG-13 for language, crude and sexual content, and some violence.
Running Time: 101 min 

Roger (Jon Heder) has a bookshelf full of self help books. He works as a meter maid, driving a humiliating little truck called a parking rover around New York City. When he gets nervous, he suffers panic attacks which cause him to faint. The young kid he was mentoring wants a new "big brother," and even worse, this is the third time this has happened.

Roger isn't even a loser, because a loser tries at life, or so says Dr. P. a top secret confidence-building teacher played by Billy Bob Thornton. Dr. P yells at his students because they all own Self Help books. He explains that you can't help anyone if you're too busy trying to help yourself. But at the same time, Dr. P is nothing more than an evil Anthony Robbins, just a few steps below Frank T.J. Mackey.

When Roger becomes the top student in the class, the underhanded teacher tries to teach him a lesson by pursuing Roger's longtime crush Amanda (Jacinda Barrett). And so begins the Rushmore-like fight for the girls affection revenge flick.

School is based on a 1960 British film of the same title, and is directed by Todd Phillips, the guy who brought you Old School and Road Trip (note: Philips is also a writer on the Borat movie). Other than a director with a great comedy track record (let's pertend Starsky & Hutch never happened), the movie features an all-star comic cast which includes: Jon Heder, Billy Bob Thornton, David Cross, Michael Clarke Duncan, Luis Guzman, Sarah Silverman and a prolonged cameo from Ben Stiller.

It sounds like the ingredients for the next great comedy film of the twenty first century, but the end result isn't. The film has a bunch of funny moments, most of which include the hilariously bitchy Sarah Silverman, but unfortunately it isn't the next coming.

Most Hollywood comedies are incredibly predictable, and this film is not the exception. But School does offer a great climax twist which you will not see coming.

Jacinda Barrett plays Roger's Australian grad student neighbor. School is Jacinda's fourth film this year, following this month's The Last Kiss where she displayed a great dramatic turn, and this summer's Poseidon remake. She's on a roll. She's certainly come a long way from Urban Legends: Final Cut. In this film, Jacinda offers her trademarked cute performance but alas, nothing more. Her character has no depth, she is just there to be the object of affection. Just a chess piece added to add further conflict to the story.

<rant>10 Years ago, I never thought I'd be saying this but: Hollywood needs to lighten up on the story in comedy scripts and concentrate more on the characters and the funny tentpole moments (which this film is lacking). Something About Mary had the right amount of story, character and funny moments. The only film in the last few years to get it even remotely right has been 40 Year Old Virgin.</rant>

The problem with casting Jon Heder in a movie is that Napoleon Dynamite has become such a huge cult phenomenon. The audience expect Heder to act like Napoleon, and when he doesn't they are disappointed, even if he does a good job. In School, Hedder turns out a very sympathetic comedic performance (minus the horrendously bad crying scene), a couple sequences definitely show that he could be a great physical comic actor, if the audience and studio ever let him.

School for Scoundrels has a bunch of laughs and is better than most of the comedies Hollywood spits out now-a-days. But in the end it's missing something.

/Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10