“Accepted”
Universal Pictures
Directed by Steve Pink
Starring Justin Long, Jonah Hill, Blake Lively, Lewis Black, Anthony Heald and Travis Van Winkle
Rated PG-13

3 Stars

In the spirit of full disclosure, I will admit up front that I’m both a Mac user and a ravenous fan of “The Daily Show with John Stewart,” which means that any film starring Justin Long (of the “I’m a Mac” commercials) and pundit Lewis Black automatically gets an extra rating star from me. I have no problem with my bias because the film in question, the new underdog comedy “Accepted” turns out to be a light-hearted and enjoyable slacker comedy—sort of an “Animal House” meets “Revenge of the Nerds” exercise in silliness.

Long stars as our hero/slacker Bartleby, a likeable kid who is nevertheless rejected from every one of the colleges he applies to. In an effort to get mom and dad off his back, Bartleby and best friend Sherman (Jonah Hill) mock up a fake university website—only to find that there are hundreds of kids out there who are more than willing to turn over a tuition check to the non-existent South Harmon Institute of Technology (The school’s acronym is a pretty accurate reflection of the film’s humor level).

The tuition goes to renovate an abandoned psychiatric hospital and Bartelby’s grumpy uncle Ben (Black) is hired on as the new dean. With no real curriculum or oversight, college life turns out to be a non-stop parade of hot women in bikinis and late-night parties. It’s a perfect scam, until a cross-town college dean (Anthony Heald) sends his spies over to crush the dreams of our free-spirited heroes.

“Accepted” opens strong, with a glib, almost anarchic tone that should please most teenage audiences. Long makes for an easy going leading man and Hill turns in a very funny sidekick performance. Okay, so the magic wears off by the predictable final accreditation scenes, but at only 92 minutes, the credits will be rolling before you realize that the final scenes are a bit bland.

“Accepted” is a proudly dumbed down comedy, but as much as you may hate to accept it, even dumbed down comedies can be funny. Especially for Mac users who love “The Daily Show.”


Movie reviews by Sean, “The Movie Guy,” are published Wednesdays and Fridays in “The Port Arthur News.” He can be found weekly on KAVU-TV and KOLE and KVIC Radio. Additional reviews can be found at www.rottentomatoes.com, www.panews.com or at www.seanthemovieguy.com. Sean welcomes your comments via email at smcbride@kavutv.com.