There is nothing remotely original about this `escape from my home town' teen flick. It has been done numerous times in both dramatic and comedic forms. However, given the state of the market currently, where the industry attempts to draw teenage audiences with disgusting body fluid humor, liberal profanity and gratuitous sex, this film is a breath of fresh air. Amazingly, without any of these `required' elements, this film (which was produced for next to nothing), did fairly well at the box office.
Shaun (Colin Hanks) is a kid from Orange County, CA, who loves to surf and hang out with his friends. He has secretly been achieving high grades between waves and after discovering a book on the beach, he decides he wants to be a writer and go to the elite Stanford University. When his guidance counselor (Lily Tomlin) sends in the wrong transcript, he is rejected. So, he takes a road trip with his brother (Jack Black) and his girlfriend (Schuyler Fisk) to set the admissions department straight.
The comedy is mostly good clean fun, harmless and goofy. The film is more notable as a coming out vehicle for kids of stars. Colin Hanks is the son of Tom Hanks and Schuyler Fisk is Sissy Spacek's daughter. The cast abounds with cameos of comics and other notables from the last four decades with appearances by John Lithgow, Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, Ben Stiller and renowned director Garry Marshall (`Happy Days', `Laverne and Shirley', `Mork and Mindy', `Murphy Brown', `Pretty Woman').
Colin Hanks plays the role of the serious kid in an absurd world. He spends much of the film being Jack Black's straight man. He proves himself to be a solid actor, though time will tell if he can transcend the incredulous teen roles. Black provides the film with most of its comic horsepower, stealing every scene in which he appears with his sheer outrageousness. Fisk is fairly bland as Shaun's animal rights activist girlfriend. All the veterans lend a comic hand to deliver a chuckle or two from the sidelines.
This is not a memorable film, but at least it is inoffensive. It has some silly situations and Black provides a guffaw or two. I rated it a 7/10. Not bad for a teen date flick.
Shaun (Colin Hanks) is a kid from Orange County, CA, who loves to surf and hang out with his friends. He has secretly been achieving high grades between waves and after discovering a book on the beach, he decides he wants to be a writer and go to the elite Stanford University. When his guidance counselor (Lily Tomlin) sends in the wrong transcript, he is rejected. So, he takes a road trip with his brother (Jack Black) and his girlfriend (Schuyler Fisk) to set the admissions department straight.
The comedy is mostly good clean fun, harmless and goofy. The film is more notable as a coming out vehicle for kids of stars. Colin Hanks is the son of Tom Hanks and Schuyler Fisk is Sissy Spacek's daughter. The cast abounds with cameos of comics and other notables from the last four decades with appearances by John Lithgow, Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, Ben Stiller and renowned director Garry Marshall (`Happy Days', `Laverne and Shirley', `Mork and Mindy', `Murphy Brown', `Pretty Woman').
Colin Hanks plays the role of the serious kid in an absurd world. He spends much of the film being Jack Black's straight man. He proves himself to be a solid actor, though time will tell if he can transcend the incredulous teen roles. Black provides the film with most of its comic horsepower, stealing every scene in which he appears with his sheer outrageousness. Fisk is fairly bland as Shaun's animal rights activist girlfriend. All the veterans lend a comic hand to deliver a chuckle or two from the sidelines.
This is not a memorable film, but at least it is inoffensive. It has some silly situations and Black provides a guffaw or two. I rated it a 7/10. Not bad for a teen date flick.