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School for Scoundrels

School for Scoundrels (2006)

tomatometer

25

Average Rating: 4.6/10
Reviews Counted: 139
Fresh: 35 | Rotten: 104

School for Scoundrels squanders its talented cast with a formulaic, unfocused attempt at a romantic comedy that's neither romantic nor funny.

25

Average Rating: 4.5/10
Critic Reviews: 32
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 24

School for Scoundrels squanders its talented cast with a formulaic, unfocused attempt at a romantic comedy that's neither romantic nor funny.

audience

56

liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 105,819

My Rating

Movie Info

Old School director Todd Phillips takes the reins for an updated remake of the 1960 comedy, this time starring Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder as Roger, a lovelorn meter reader who enrolls in a confidence-building class in order to win the love of his dream girl, and Billy Bob Thornton as Dr. P, the scheming, egomaniacal teacher who has designs of his own for the attractive young female. The rivalry soon spins out of control, as pranks and insults fly fast and furiously in a battle to determine

Feb 13, 2007

$17.8M

MGM

All Critics (143) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (35) | Rotten (106) | DVD (17)

Things get increasingly dopey in the final act, leading to an incredibly stupid ending, but I have to admit I laughed just enough to recommend School for Scoundrels.

October 2, 2006 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comment
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

You want it to be over long before the needless epilogue that fills you in on how all these freaks turned out.

September 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | Comment
Dallas Morning News
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It feels as if director Phillips was scrounging desperately for morsels with comic potential and came up empty-handed.

September 29, 2006 Full Review Source: USA Today | Comment
USA Today
Top Critic IconTop Critic

School for Scoundrels is an exercise in advanced comedic embalming.

September 29, 2006 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
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It would require a near-lethal injection of nitrous oxide to induce laughter.

September 29, 2006 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
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Despite the appeal of cobra-eyed Thornton and bunny-nosed Heder, Scoundrels trips early, and often.

September 29, 2006 Comment
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

School for Scoundrels has some solid opportunities for real dark comedy, but blows most of them for maudlin romantic-comedy tripe, and the ones it does go for it never takes far enough.

March 30, 2011 Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | Comment
ComingSoon.net

Dismal comedy about nerds trying to be cool.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

School for Losers would have made a lot more sense.

September 21, 2007 Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | Comment
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

...the film remains consistently watchable thanks to Todd Phillips and Scot Armstrong's surprisingly clever screenplay and the uniformly effective performances.

May 11, 2007 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

You might want to sign up for study hall instead.

March 24, 2007 Full Review Source: UGO | Comment

The only link to the original books is the name Dr P given to the foulmouthed teacher of a New York class offering assertiveness training to pathetic nerds. He's played by Billy Bob Thornton, which is rather like casting Burt Reynolds as Bertrand Russell.

February 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | Comment
Observer [UK]

It's funny at first, but then loses its way so badly that it somehow winds up as a high-tech espionage thriller.

February 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Independent on Sunday | Comment
Independent on Sunday

Only toward the end of the film do the hostilities reach a level of recklessness with any potential to be funny. If things had started at that pitch and been ramped up from there, Phillips might have had a movie worth making.

February 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | Comment
Sunday Times (UK)

The comic sallies and set-pieces are very much at the wrong end of the bang-whimper spectrum.

February 23, 2007 Full Review Source: Independent | Comment
Independent

Billy Bob phones in a below-par performance but still blows his young rival off the screen.

February 23, 2007 Full Review Source: Sun Online | Comment
Sun Online

Unlike the original, this version is never sure whether it wants to go to the dark side or not.

February 23, 2007 Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | Comment
Daily Mirror [UK]

Wearily spins straw out of its none-too-original premise.

February 23, 2007 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | Comment
Daily Telegraph

Charmless, uncomprehending US remake.

February 23, 2007 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | Comment
Guardian [UK]

It's not funny; there were three laughs I counted over the entire course of the movie.

February 23, 2007 Full Review Source: BBC Radio Five Live | Comment
BBC Radio Five Live
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for School for Scoundrels

Yep, I just can't get enough of Billy-Bob. The story was the completely reverse of what I thought it was going to be, which turned out to be a funnier concept. Billy-Bob does sarcastically irritating exceptionally well. The film kind of reminded me of Anger Management , but with more of a twist.

March 25, 2007
76Majikat

Super Reviewer

B-

July 31, 2010
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb1

Super Reviewer

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