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Reviews Counted:135
Fresh:33
Rotten:102
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: School for Scoundrels squanders its talented cast with a formulaic, unfocused attempt at a romantic comedy that's neither romantic nor funny.
Theatrical Release:23-02-2007
Synopsis: Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton) runs a SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS at which luckless men are given a crash course in the ways of the alpha male. Dishing out trite but, to the men involved, revelatory advice... [More]
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Heder, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jacinda Barrett
Director: Todd Phillips
The only link to the original books is the name Dr P given to the foulmouthed teacher of a New York class offering assertiveness training to pathetic nerds. He's played by Billy Bob Thornton, which is rather like casting Burt Reynolds as Bertrand Russell.
It's funny at first, but then loses its way so badly that it somehow winds up as a high-tech espionage thriller.
Only toward the end of the film do the hostilities reach a level of recklessness with any potential to be funny. If things had started at that pitch and been ramped up from there, Phillips might have had a movie worth making.
The comic sallies and set-pieces are very much at the wrong end of the bang-whimper spectrum.
Billy Bob phones in a below-par performance but still blows his young rival off the screen.
Unlike the original, this version is never sure whether it wants to go to the dark side or not.
Wearily spins straw out of its none-too-original premise.
Top CriticCharmless, uncomprehending US remake.
Top CriticIt's not funny; there were three laughs I counted over the entire course of the movie.
Top CriticA choice cast fails to turn this woeful slapstick into the scathing attack on weak minds the film half promises.
Top CriticCrass, obvious and largely unfunny - in fact just about everything the original film isn't.
Top CriticAs a comedy it can never sustain itself, and while there are moments to enjoy, it is all pretty forgettable, which is a shame because the concept remains an amusing one.
The performances ensure that this is never less than watchable but it's not as clever or as funny as it should have been.
Ben Stiller cameo apart, something’s wrong when a proven comedic property and two well-matched stars can scarcely raise a titter.
It’s the stuff of simple comedy, but as frat-flicks go it’s a return to form for director Todd Phillips.
Top CriticA script that suffers the same problem as its characters — lack of confidence — is in dire need of a fire being lit under its arse. All involved could do with learning a thing or two from some scoundrels of the ‘dirty, rotten’ school.
Top CriticNever quite finds the confidence it needs to transform from zero to hero.
Top CriticEnough entertaining dialog and performances to keep us chuckling, even though it's not particularly clever.
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