Weird, then, how the cast play as if holding their breath for the pay cheque.
Comment
06/24/06
Stealing Harvard (2002)
8
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:102
Fresh:8
Rotten:94
Average Rating:3.2/10
Consensus: There are laughs Stealing Harvard, but they are few and far between. Tom Green's antics grow old fast.
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Jason Lee plays a well-intentioned Everyman who is forced into a life of crime in STEALING HARVARD. Engaged to the beautiful Elaine (Leslie Mann) and saving up to buy their dream house, John (Lee)... [More]
Starring: Jason Lee, Tom Green, Leslie Mann, Dennis Farina
Director: Bruce McCulloch
Reviews for Stealing Harvard
Top CriticNothing can survive the toxic unfunniness of Green.
03/25/03
Top CriticThis film tries so hard to be both charming and disgusting that it's almost painful to watch.
02/16/03
This is just lazy.
04/21/03
Top CriticIt's no-win stuff. It's not offensive enough to appeal to Green's (ever-decreasing) fan-base, nor witty enough to convince anyone else.
03/04/03
Top CriticSome movies can get by without being funny simply by structuring the scenes as if they were jokes: a setup, delivery and payoff. Stealing Harvard can't even do that much. Each scene immediately succumbs to gravity and plummets to earth.
09/17/02
As for the antics themselves, the early ones lack, sometimes loudly lacking. But like John's dumb-determination, the script keeps rubbing its two sticks together until something funny sparks. A weak B+.
09/11/02
There are a few chuckles, but not a single gag sequence that really scores, and the stars seem to be in two different movies.
09/12/02
Stealing Harvard is evidence that the Farrelly Bros. -- Peter and Bobby -- and their brand of screen comedy are wheezing to an end, along with Green's half-hearted movie career.
09/13/02
The best way to hope for any chance of enjoying this film is by lowering your expectations. Then lower them a bit more.
09/23/02
Another boorish movie from the I-heard-a-joke- at-a-frat-party school of screenwriting.
09/11/02
It would be cheaper to try and catch the trailer while watching another movie worth the price.
09/14/02
It isn’t that Stealing Harvard is a horrible movie—if only it were that grand a failure! It’s just that it’s so not-at-all-good. And I expect much more from a talent as outstanding as director Bruce McCulloch.
09/30/02
The film desperately sinks further and further into comedy futility.
09/14/02
Some actors steal scenes. Tom Green just gives them a bad odor. This self-infatuated goofball is far from the only thing wrong with the clumsy comedy Stealing Harvard, but he's the most obvious one.
09/12/02
Quite frankly, I can't see why any actor of talent would ever work in a McCulloch production again if they looked at how this movie turned out.
09/13/02
McCulloch stages his action as if he were still working on the two-walled sets he knew from Canadian television.
09/11/03
A shame that Stealing Harvard is too busy getting in its own way to be anything but frustrating, boring, and forgettable.
09/12/02
Tom Green and an Ivy League college should never appear together on a marquee, especially when the payoff is an unschooled comedy like Stealing Harvard, which fails to keep 80 minutes from seeming like 800.
09/13/02
Instead of building to a laugh riot we are left with a handful of disparate funny moments of no real consequence.
09/20/02
Latest News for Stealing Harvard
December 17, 2007:
RT on DVD: The Simpsons, Stardust, and More!
This week the shelves are packed, and just in time for the holidays! Check out the long-awaited big-screen debut of Springfield's finest (The Simpsons Movie), Matthew Vaughn's... More...
June 14, 2005:
Tobey Maguire Gets "Quiet"
Tobey Maguire ("Spider-Man") will co-produce and star in the romantic comedy "Quiet Type," says The Hollywood Reporter. The plots deals with an... More...
April 13, 2005:
Ray Liotta to Make Another "Comeback"
Former "Kids in the Hall" comedian Bruce McCulloch will write and direct the comedy "Comeback Season," and it looks like leading man Ray Liotta... More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube 
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds