School for Scoundrels
It's hard to say who is more typecast in School for Scoundrels: Billy Bob Thornton or Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite). The film, based on a 1960 British flick, features one main character who is snarkily cocky and one who is almost unbearably goofy. You can guess which is which.
Roger (Heder) wusses along through life as a New York City Meter Man who is easily bullied out of dispensing tickets and suffers from frequent faint-resulting panic attacks--- especially when presented face-to-face with his adorable neighbor and crush, Amanda (Jacinda Barrett). He seems resigned to life as a flavorless flunky, and it is only when an acquaintance and self-proclaimed former wimp slips him the digits of Dr. P (Thornton) that Roger begins to contemplate reinventing himself.
Dr. P runs a super-secret adult education class in which, ostensibly, he assists the duds of the world into their more scoundrel-y selves. Dr. P, whose mantra is "Lie, lie, and lie some more," apparently seeks to breed more bullies into the world through lessons which serve to manipulate his milquetoast minions into the kind of men who "run shit" rather than "eat shit." After all, it's a dog eat dog world, and only the alphas will survive.
Roger quickly becomes a stand-out star in the sea of sad sacks (which I suppose is akin to being the coolest kid in chess club) and this flips the switch on for the competitive Dr. P to run his emergency cock-block operation: he stakes his own claim on Amanda just as Roger has finally begun to make progress with her. Luckily, the emerging confidence in Roger breaks out full-throttle when he finds himself caught up in an all-out war with his slimy swami as both men actively pursue the prize of the fair Amanda. In true Hollywood fashion, of course the character of Amanda isn't bright enough to sense that something is amiss with Dr. P.
With some charming moments dispersed throughout, cameos by the always-entertaining Ben Stiller and cleverly caustic Sarah Silverman, and a somewhat interesting twist near the finale--- viewers may remain intermittently engaged. Overall, though, School for Scoundrels is just another hapless, classless quasi-comedy with nothing new to teach us.
Grades
Overall: C
Story: C
Acting: C
Visuals: C
Originality/Innovation: C
Enjoyability: C
DVD/Extras: C
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