Accepted (2006) starring Justin Long, Jonah Hill, Adam Herschman, Columbus Short, Maria Thayer, Lewis Black, Blake Lively directed by Steve Pink Movie Review

Accepted (2006)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Justin Long and Blake Lively in Accepted (2006)

It's the S.H.I.T.

I'd never heard of "Accepted" before spotting it on the TV schedule and when I read it was about college kids I thought the reason I had never heard of it must be because it is another generic college movie with teens acting daft, drinking and sex jokes. I was wrong because "Accepted" is better than it sounds because whilst we have plenty of generic college humour there is also intelligence to it as it makes a stand against the education system which strangles creativity. It also feels like it could have been a perfect sequel to "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" as we have a slacker who decides to start his own fake college.

Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long - The Break-Up) has got by during High School but now as he is rejected by every college he applied to he faces the fact he is a disappointment to his parents. He's not the only one as his friends Rory (Maria Thayer), Glen (Adam Herschman) and Hands (Columbus Short) have also been rejected but after getting an idea they join forces to set up a fake college, South Harmon Institute of Technology (S.H.I.T.) with a proper websites and a building. The only trouble is that having pulled the wool over his parent's eyes who believe that S.H.I.T. is real Bartleby discovers that 100s of rejects also believe it is real and suddenly their fake college is going to have to get real.

Columbus Short and Justin Long in Accepted (2006)

When "Accepted" starts it starts like pretty much any other high school/college movie as we meet are slacker Bartleby and it's not the most enthralling of starts. It sets up that whilst a slacker Bartleby is not stupid as he pulls one over the school Principal, a sort of modern day Ferris Bueller. And that is the thing about "Accepted" because whilst it has plenty of typical college humour from scantily clad girls to copious drinking its focus is about Bartleby pulling the con of setting up a fake college and it is amusing.

But it is not just about being funny because "Accepted" is also a movie with a message because it aims to point out how wrong the educations system is as it destroys creativity and thinking. It's not original by any means and you can second guess that come the end it will be up to Bartleby to prove that S.H.I.T. is as good as any college as the Dean of the real Harmon tries to shut them down but it does get its point across. In fact without giving anything away anything the impassioned speech by Bartleby at the end is both funny yet also powerful.

As such "Accepted" is very much a one man show because it is Justin Long as Bartleby who is the focus of the movie, it is his idea to start the fake college and also keep it going when suddenly 100s of rejects show up. And Long does a brilliant job delivering a bit of cockiness but also nervousness which makes Bartleby interesting. That is not to say the rest of the cast are a let down Adam Herschman, Maria Thayer and Jonah Hill to name but a few of the many familiar faces all play their parts well.

What this all boils down to is that "Accepted" is a pleasant, enjoyable surprise because whilst it is another college comedy it has the depth and intelligence which is often lacking from most college comedies.


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