Two buddies find themselves doing some very wrong things for perfectly right reasons in this broad comedy. John (Jason Lee) is a nice guy who is responsible and hardworking; his best friend Duff (Tom Green), however, is his polar opposite, a layabout who is constantly getting in some sort of trouble. John is very much in love with his longtime girlfriend Elaine (Leslie Mann), and wants to marry her, but true to form, he has pledged not to make the walk down the aisle until he has saved up to
30,000 dollars so they'll be able to afford a down payment on the house they've always wanted. After years of saving, John has finally put 30 grand in the bank, and has set the date with Elaine. However, as John's big day approaches, he gets word from his sister Patty (Megan Mullally) that her daughter Noreen (Tammy Blanchard) has been accepted into Harvard University -- and years ago, John promised her if she got into the prestigious college, he'd pay the tuition. Making good on John's pledge to his niece would leave him with a mere 121 dollars in the bank, but he doesn't have the heart to say no to Noreen, or tell Elaine of his dilemma. John does tell Duff about his problem, who comes up with a typically hare-brained solution -- turning to a life of crime for the next two weeks in order to steal another 30,000 dollars. Stealing Harvard costars Dennis Farina and Chris Penn; Bruce McCulloch, a member of the comedy series The Kids in the Hall, served as director. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
There is no real reason to see this unless you are related to someone involved in the project, and even then you might think pretty hard before you spend $9 and 90 minutes here.
There's just enough to Stealing Harvard to prevent it from being the worst movie of the year. But the few things that this movie has going for it have nothing to do with Tom Green.
Seemingly a vehicle to showcase the Canadian's inane ramblings, Stealing Harvard is a smorgasbord of soliloquies about nothing delivered by the former Mr. Drew Barrymore.
A crazy movie! Jason Lee was good as the poor husband who promised to pay for his niece's education, whilst his wacky gift-basket-making wife wants him to invest the same money in a new home. Jason Lee's character must turn to his half-insane old friend Duff (Tom Green - who wasn't too gross this time) - for ideas for
finding cash quickly. They get involved in a liquor store robbery with a toy gun and other schemes. Jason Lee works for his father-in-law (Dennis Farina) at a health care supermarket, which also lead to some crazy jokes. Humour was a bit hit-or-miss - I laughed at the housecat in the cupboards, the gift-baskets, the housebreaking at the lonely widower's mansion and Tom Green being assaulted by the puppy. The story is very cartoonish; I didn't realize Bruce McCulloch (of Kids in the Hall fame) directed this movie; his lawyer character was funny in it. This comedy should've done better, but was probably not gross enough for the likes of the Van Wilder and American Pie-eating crowd.
No quotes approved yet for Stealing Harvard. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'Stealing Harvard'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
