Admission (2013)
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Reviews Counted: 145
Fresh: 55 | Rotten: 90
Admission has a pair of immensely likable leads in Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, but it wastes them on a contrived (and clumsily directed) screenplay.
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 29
Admission has a pair of immensely likable leads in Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, but it wastes them on a contrived (and clumsily directed) screenplay.
liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 28,746
Movie Info
Tina Fey (30 Rock) and Paul Rudd (This is 40) are paired for the first time on-screen in Admission, the new comedy/drama directed by Academy Award nominee Paul Weitz (About a Boy, In Good Company), about the surprising detours we encounter on the road to happiness. Every spring, high school seniors anxiously await letters of college admission that will affirm and encourage their potential. At Princeton University, admissions officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) is a gatekeeper evaluating thousands
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Cast
-
Tina Fey
Portia Nathan -
Paul Rudd
John Pressman -
Nat Wolff
Jeremiah -
Michael Sheen
Mark -
Wallace Shawn
Clarence -
Gloria Reuben
Corinne -
Travaris Meeks-Spear...
Nelson -
Lily Tomlin
Susannah -
Ann Harada
Mrs. Lafont -
Ben Levin
Junior Lafont -
Daniel Joseph Levy
James -
Maggie Keenan-Bolger
Girl on Tour -
Elaine Kussack
Abby -
Christopher Evan Wel...
Brandt -
Michael Genadry
Ben -
Juliet Brett
Praying Applicant -
John Brodsky
Smug Kid -
Camille Branton
Gymnast -
Sarita Choudhury
Rachael -
Freddie Francis
Admissions Counselor -
Travis Bratten
Quest Student -
Tanisha Long
Quest Student -
Nadia Alexander
Quest Student -
Karen Pham
Quest Student -
Rob Campbell
Richard -
Sonya Walger
Helen -
Olek Krupa
Polokov -
Roby Sobieski
Makeout Guy -
Lauren Anne Schaffel
Student at Party -
Brian Charles Johnso...
Student at Party -
Lipica Shah
Student at Party -
Jarod Einsohn
Keg Guy -
Caliaf St. Aubyn
Keg Guy's Friend -
Zita-Ann Geoffrey
Tour Group Mom -
Laura Jordan
Woman -
Sarah Quinn
Young Mother -
Jason Blaj
Supermarket Kid -
Zachary Unger
Jeremiah (8 Years Ol... -
Lisa Emery
Mrs. Pressman -
Mihran Shlougian
Jeremiah's Dad -
Lynne Taylor
Jeremiah's Mom -
Brian d'Arcy James
Christopher Flynn -
Leigha Handcock
Yulia Karasov -
David Simins
A Capella Singer -
Brad Wilson
A Capella Singer -
Ryan McCarty
A Capella Singer -
Krishna Choudhary
A Capella Singer -
Ricky Lee Jones
A Capella Singer -
Thomas Merckens
A Capella Singer -
Alan Robert Southwor...
A Capella Singer -
Chris Brownell
A Capella Singer -
Chris Palermo
A Capella Singer -
Anthony Capers
Jeremiah's Buddy -
Julia Faye Fisher
Agency Receptionist -
Gameela Wright
Woman in Adoption Ag...
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Admission Trailer & Photos
All Critics (145) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (90) | DVD (1)
The many strands of this amiable yet overstuffed romantic comedy don't hang together, though each, on its own, has a modest charm.
Top CriticWhat is most distressing about Admission is that it serves as further evidence that Tina Fey, despite her dominance of the small screen, has not yet mastered the big one.
This is certainly an interesting idea, though the movie is badly handicapped by Fey, who must venture beyond her usual snippiness into scenes of genuine poignancy and proves unequal to the task.
Granted, this is not automatic laugh-riot material, nor should it be, but didn't Fey recognize how hackneyed it all is?
If Fey ends up making movies as good as this one over the next few years, television's loss will have been cinema's gain, for real.
You'll be glad you enrolled.
What's a romantic comedy to do when it is neither romantic nor comedic? When that film is Admission, it plunges forward drunkenly, hoping to overcome its inadequacies with goodwill created by the cast.
Overstays its welcome before petering out unremarkably.
An engaging cast holds our interest even when this rom-com meanders down unnecessary sideroads and dips into corny sentimentality.
Princeton must have thought this film could help its reputation. It's more likely to increase applications to Yale, Harvard and MIT.
Given two options, Admission routinely takes the less interesting of the two, and wastes a great deal of on-screen talent in the process.
Have you ever wondered how the admission procedure functions in Ivy League universities? No, me neither.
There are chuckles and moving moments, just not enough of them.
Intermittently sharp but often dully over-extended.
We generally expect more wacky humour from Fey and Rudd than this comedy, which is packed with perhaps too-smart dialog and a lot of warm sentiment.
Romantic and family complications ensue but nothing especially memorable or purposeful. Or funny.
It is ... perilously short on laughs, and the few that do come are generated by Lily Tomlin as the heroine's ferociously feminist mother.
Admission wants to win a place in our hearts, but after 108 minutes of relatively hard labour the majority of viewers probably won't let it in.
The comic material really isn't there, and the plot transitions feel forced and uncomfortable ...
The movie subverts expectations, and not in a good way, by seeming in a dither about its own identity.
This is comedy with zero pulse.
The tone is uneven, the central romance is unconvincing and it's disappointingly low on actual laughs.
The themes are important, even if in this Hollywood laundering they are sloshed about in love suds and clattered by uneven comedy spins.
A perfectly serviceable, star-led romance, Admission is also proof that some actors are just fun to watch in anything (which here extends to the supporting cast as well as the leads).
The staggeringly unconvincing dynamic between the central characters not only leaves Fey and Rudd helpless, it ensures the whole movie is effectively rudderless.
Admission is disappointing rather than disastrous but it's desperately lacking in spark and individuality.
Audience Reviews for Admission
Super Reviewer
Good movie. The comedy is subtle, so those wanting Tina Fey's SNL goofs will be unhappy. It is not for young kids. They will be bored. It it not for the high action/adventure people. It is for folks who like an amusing story well told. Overall, it's nice entertainment.
Straitlaced Princeton University admissions officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) is caught off-guard when she makes a recruiting visit to an alternative high school overseen by her former college classmate, the freewheeling John Pressman (Paul Rudd). Pressman has surmised that Jeremiah (Nat Wolff), his gifted yet very unconventional student, might well be the son that Portia secretly gave up for adoption many years ago. Soon, Portia finds herself bending the rules for Jeremiah, putting at risk the life she thought she always wanted but in the process finding her way to a surprising and exhilarating life and romance she never dreamed of having.
Super Reviewer
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- Portia Nathan: A 'B' in Physics? And you didn't take AP Chem.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| I want to go to there. | 6 months ago | 6 |
| Deferred Acceptance | 3 months ago | 0 |
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Latest News on Admission
March 22, 2013:
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March 21, 2013:
Video Interview with Lily Tomlin from AdmissionComedy legend Lily Tomlin plays the no-nonsense gun-toting mother of Tina Fey in Admission. Senior...
March 20, 2013:
Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, and Paul Weitz Talk AdmissionFey reveals which part of the original script made her say "Urk!"
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