School for Scoundrels (2006)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Todd Phillips

Writers (WGA):

Todd Phillips (screenplay) &
Scot Armstrong (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 September 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Too nice? Too honest? Too *you*? Help is on the way.

Plot:

A young guy short on luck, enrolls in a class to build confidence to help win over the girl of his dreams, which becomes complicated when his teacher has the same agenda.

Plot Keywords:

Airport | Tennis | Paintball Gun | Helicopter | Pepper Spray

Awards:

1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Fri. July 17	6:30 PM	MTV
Sat. July 18	4:00 PM	MTV

Cast

Billy Bob Thornton	...	Dr. P
Jon Heder	...	Roger
Jacinda Barrett	...	Amanda
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Lesher
Sarah Silverman	...	Becky
David Cross	...	Ian
Matt Walsh	...	Walsh
Horatio Sanz	...	Diego
Todd Louiso	...	Eli
Jon Glaser	...	Ernie
Paul Scheer	...	Little Pete
Ben Stiller	...	Lonnie
Luis Guzmán	...	Sergeant Moorehead
Dan Fogler	...	Zack
DeRay Davis	...	Bee Bee

Also Known As:

The Better Man (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language, crude and sexual content, and some violence.

Runtime:

100 min | USA:108 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Ireland:12A | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-7 | USA:Not Rated (unrated version) | Germany:12 | Argentina:13 | Peru:14 | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

Bill Murray was attached to play Dr. P at one time with Christopher Masterson playing Roger. Both had to pull out of the project at the last minute.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the movie, Lonnie tells Lesher that he gets a 15 minute head start. Once the two are outside the helicopter, Lonnie says Lesher has an 8 minute head start.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Dr. P: Lie, lie, and lie some more.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Fight Club (1999)

Soundtrack:

Lovely Day

Starts off fresh, then just settles on stale

Went to preview screening last night and was pleasantly amused for the first hour but then it just went downhill. Jon Heder's performance is pretty much flat, not bad in any way except that it does nothing to beyond what was on the page. This is typical of most of the cast who seem to be engaged in some sort of paint by numbers exercise. Even Billy Bob Thorton who is well cast as a drill instructor for losers loses steam. Todd Luiso, best known for the wimpy employee in High Fidelity is probably the only actor that manages to turn in something worthy of appreciation. There is an oneupmanship sequence reminiscent of "Rushmore" but only serves to make one wish they were watching that instead. Wait till it's in the video store and you have trouble agreeing what to rent and need something bland.