Movie Review School for Scoundrels

School for Scoundrels (2006)

Directed by Tod Phillips

Written by Scot Armstrong

Starring Jon Heder, Jascinda Barrett, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Clarke Duncan, Sarah Silverman, Ben Stiller, David Cross

Release Date September 29th, 2006

Release Date September 29th 2006

Todd Phillips and Scot Armstrong are the comic director-writer team behind Road Trip, Old School and Starsky and Hutch. Their brand of broad physical comedy, bathroom humor and just general juvenilia may not be great art but is good for a number of big laughs. Phillips and Armstrong's latest collaboration, School For Scoundrels, is meaner and more physical than their previous films but like those other films it's good for more than a few big laughs.

Roger (Jon Heder) is a shy, lonely, dork; living in New York City and working as a meter maid. He is nursing an unrequited crush on his apartment building neighbor Amanda (Jascinda Barrett) however, because he either hides or passes out when he sees her, he has no chance of getting a date with her. Luckily for Roger his pal Ian (David Cross) has something that might help him.

Ian took a class at the learning annex that is like Fight Club for the socially challenged. For five thousand dollars a man named Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton) teaches guys like Roger how to find the nerve to take the things they want. His methods are harsh and cruel, including instructing his students to randomly antagonize strangers, shooting his students with paintballs at close range and just generally insulting them until they fight back.

Whatever the methods, Dr. P's teachings do help Roger who finally gets a date with Amanda. However, when Dr. P senses Roger getting too good, so he decides to teach him a lesson by getting a date with Amanda himself and challenging Roger to fight back.

Directed by Todd Phillips and his long time writing partner Scot Armstrong, School For Scoundrels has a number of big laughs but lacks a consistent throughline. Phillips and Armstrong's style is to set a plot in motion and then continuously interrupt it with gags that are hit and miss. An example is a paintball game scene where three of Roger's classmates are taken hostage by Dr. P's burly assistant played by Michael Clark Duncan, and there are intimations that he may forcibly have sex with them.

This rape joke is repeated later in a bizarre cameo by Ben Stiller as a former student of Dr. P's. The gags distract from the main plot and, in the case of the rape joke, really take away from the enjoyment of the rest of the film. Another pair of gags involving Roger and a pair of thuggish parking offenders is funnier but just as distracting.

Another problem that Phillips and Armstrong have is a complete inability to write female characters. Going back to Road Trip where Amy Smart was used merely as eye candy for a terrific but unnecessary nude scene, to Old School where Ellen Pompeo barely existed in the plot and every other woman was used for more naked eye candy to now in School For Scoundrels where Jascinda Barrett is at least allowed to keep her clothes on but otherwise barely exists in the plot. She exists only as a prize to be won by either Heder or Thornton.

Jon Heder has a problem. His role as the awkward socially retarded Napoleon Dynamite continues to haunt his career. The specter of Napoleon hangs over his every role since and in School For Scoundrels his Roger is just a few steps beyond Napoleon in terms of ungainly social graces. There are signs however that he is maturing. Heder holds the screen well opposite the imposing presence of Thornton and he does seem a good match for Barrett. If her character would have had more depth there might have been more chemistry.

Billy Bob Thornton has a wonderful dark comic presence. His Dr. P is like a twisted version of Will Smith's Hitch and R. Lee Ermey's malevolent drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket. Thornton can play intimidating or charming in just a few beats and make you believe both. In School For Scoundrels his snake like charm and savage temper combine for more than a few big laughs.

School For Scoundrels is meanspirited and often quite juvenile but it is funny. I especially loved the tennis scene which was rightfully featured in the film's marketing. Heder and Thornton really connect in these scenes and the awkward violence is played for some of the film's biggest laughs. The paintball scene, also in the trailer, is the film's low point in violent slapstick. The scene exists simply to fire shots to the groin, it adds nothing to the plot of the film. Is it funny? I laughed at the first shot, by the fifth I was waiting for the plot to kick in again.

Ben Stiller drops into School For Scoundrels late in the picture and though his role is more than a little eccentric, I did love the way he played it. Driven slightly mad after serving in Grenada in the 80's and surviving Dr. P's class soon after, Stiller finds just the right odd note for this truly bizarre character, easily the broadest and least believable in the film.

School For Scoundrels suffers from something that each of Todd Phillips and Scot Armstrong's previous films suffered from, a lack of a consistent tone. At times very broad, at times played for believability, the tone of the comedy is at odds with the tone of the film's romantic triangle. There are big laughs in the film that are followed by long periods of setups and payoffs that are mean spirited to the point of cruelty but more importantly, are often not funny enough to justify the cruelty.

Meanwhile the romance sputters because Barrett isn't given any time in between the evil pranks and pratfalls of Heder and Thornton, to connect with either actor. Amanda's first date with Roger is an alright scene, but Heder and Barrett are on two completely different wavelengths in most scenes, he's broad and gangly, she's square and earnest.

A little more effort and time and I think these two actors could have established a strong romantic rapport. However, this is not a romantic comedy. School For Scoundrels is a film about nasty pranks and shots to the groin. That too much of the plot hinges on Heder and Thornton's relationship with Barrett is a problem that the filmmakers don't seem all that concerned with.

Still, though I sound quite negative about School For Scoundrels; I enjoyed it. The film achieves a number of big laughs inside and outside the plot. The film would be much better if the laughs came seamlessly from one scene to the next instead of stopping and starting, but the laughs are big laughs and that makes up for many of the film's major structural problems.

School For Scoundrels is meanspirited, often cruel and highly immature. It's also undeniably funny. Jon Heder may still remain in the shadow of his Napoleon character but he shows in School For Scoundrels that he has the comedic chops to one day escape that film's shadow. Billy Bob Thornton will never be a great leading man but as a supporting player or villain, he is one of the best in the business.

Todd Phillips and Scot Armstrong know how to craft some big laughs but they are, for now, just getting by on those few big laughs. I hope one day to see them mature into making films that flow seamlessly from one joke to the next, but for now; their big laughs are big enough for me to recommend School For Scoundrels.