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School for Scoundrels (2006; Unrated) (HD DVD)
The Weinstein Company // Unrated // April 17, 2007 // Region 0
List Price: $29.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Okay, I'm as guilty as anyone about unrelentingly quoting Napoleon Dynamite and doing lousy impressions of everyone and everything in the movie. Since the $16.79 
I shelled out for the DVD contributed at least in some small part to Jon Heder ekeing out a career as the star of a series of unwatchable C-list comedies...I'm sorry. I was young and impressionable, and especially after shifting uncomfortably on my couch for a hundred-someodd minutes while suffering through the aggressively laughless School for Scoundrels, I understand what I did was wrong. It won't happen again.
Take the worst elements of romantic comedies and slapstick, toss 'em in a blender, mash "Puree", and out comes a frosty glass of School for Scoundrels. This not-really-a-remake of the 1960 British comedy of the same name stars Jon Heder as Roger, a timid, dweeby meter maid who's constantly thumbing through a metric ton of self-help books in the hopes of squeaking out some self-confidence. When he's dumped by his third Little Brother and humiliates himself yet again in front of Amanda, the Australian cutie next door (Jacinda Barrett), Roger's tipped off about an underground course that specializes in grafting backbones onto losers like him. The class is led by Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton), who's not a touchy-feely Understanding Yourself and Others motivational guru so much as a sadist who encourages his students to blast each other point-blank with paintball guns and lie, lie, and lie some more to women in the hopes of getting laid. ...and it works. It works so well that Roger lands a very successful first date with the bonnie lass down the hall, but the hypercompetitive Dr. P quickly schemes his way into her heart too. So...yeah. There's the whole the-student-must-now-become-the-master thing, zany oneupsmanship as Roger and Dr. P battle it out with ball-busting tennis matches and spray-painted pooches, and not only can you pretty much write the entire third act of the movie yourself from there, you'd probably do it better.
With School for Scoundrels, writer/director Todd Phillips wanted to step away from the frat-comedy approach that shoved copies of Old School and Road Trip into the DVD collections of damn near every male
between the ages of 18 and 34. He and his writing partner Scot Armstrong set out to make something more mature...more realistic...and apparently a hell of a lot less funny. There's a grand total of one laugh in School for Scoundrels, coming courtesy of comedienne Sarah Silverman as her character accuses Roger of being a deranged serial killer. Other than that...? Nothing. Sometimes it'll pull out a great setup but doesn't bother to follow through. Tearing a page from Fight Club's book, Dr. P gives each of his students a beeper and a homework assignment: when the beeper goes off, they have to pick a fight with whoever happens to be nearby at the moment. With as many classmates as Roger has, that's...what, ten or fifteen opportunities to sprinkle in some comedy? Instead, you get chest puffing followed by a swirlie, another episode of Meek White Guy Meets Thuggish Ethnic Stereotypes, and a faceful of Jell-O. On the upside, if you come from the America's Funniest Home Videos school of humor and crack up at the sight of someone getting mauled in the groin, School for Scoundrels is a comedy cavalcade!
It barely even seems to be aiming for laughs. I mean, School for Scoundrels builds up to the climax by having Roger confront Dr. P and calling him "AKA Suck It You Are Busted MMMMM!". Really? I guess the downside of having several consecutive hits is that the suits second-guess themselves and give you a free pass even when you come up a-cropper. It doesn't help that the devastatingly un-funny Jon Heder has to carry the movie on his shoulders. Can't act. Can't get a laugh. Can't close his mouth. It's no good for anyone, really. Billy Bob Thornton does alright, but he doesn't have any excuse not to since The Caustic, Sociopathic, Aging Jackass is the only type of role he does these days. (Compare! Contrast!)
School for Scoundrels is hitting HD DVD in an "unrated ballbuster edition". The writers never get around to touching on the differences between this version of the movie and the PG-13 theatrical cut in their audio commentary, but there's nothing too hot for theaters aside from maybe an extra F-bomb or two. The 'unrated' tag is just a marketing gimmick, especially considering that this is a movie that goes out of its way to avoid anything that raunchy or vulgar. Or witty, original, or even in the same time zone as actual comedy. Don't bother.
Video: School for Scoundrels' 2.39:1 AVC-encoded image looks alright, but a flat, drab visual style and some sporadic softness don't leave much to impress. The level of fine detail is decent but unremarkable, and there's something faintly jittery about the way the movie looks in motion. It's nothing dramatic or particularly distracting, but the transition from one frame to the next often didn't look quite as smooth and fluid as I'm used to seeing. Otherwise, there aren't any
flaws of note. School for Scoundrels is more or less fresh out of theaters, and the source material used for this HD DVD is in pristine shape, with no artificating visible throughout. I did spot what looked like some edge haloing in the first few minutes, but I didn't notice anything like that throughout the rest of the movie. Not disappointing but not more than a notch or two above "okay" either.
Audio: This HD DVD sports soundtracks in both Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD, although School for Scoundrels isn't the kind of movie that stands to benefit much from lossless audio. The sound design is carved from the usual comedy mold: the film's dialogue is rooted in the center channel, and the surrounds and subwoofer are reserved almost entirely to reinforce various bits of music. It's a straightforward mix but generally okay: the score and a handful of sound effects never drown out the dialogue, the surrounds provide at least a little bit of ambiance and really kick in during a paintball free-for-all, and only a few scattered lines have a slightly edgy quality to them. Nothing earth-shattering, but it does the job.
A French 5.1 dub has also been tacked on, along with subtitles in English and Spanish.
Extras: All of the extras from School for Scoundrels's DVD release have made their way onto this disc, and even though none of them are in high definition, at least they're all in anamorphic widescreen.
There isn't that much to wade through here, though. The audio commentary with director/co-writer Todd Phillips and his writing partner Scot Armstrong is a low energy, borderline-lethargic discussion anchored almost entirely around the movie's cast. There are a few other topics the two of them are keen on discussing -- the production design, the challenges of shooting out of
sequence between New York exteriors and Los Angeles soundstages, the score by comedy mainstay Christophe Beck, their collaborative writing process, and aiming for more of a sense of realism this time around -- but for the most part, they're either narrating what's happening on-screen or fawning over the actors. A couple of the more interesting notes include Michael Clarke Duncan not realizing that he was playing an implied male rapist until making the press junket rounds, leaning on a digitally-rendered tennis ball when the cast's assurances that they could play turned out to be overblown, and duping Jon Heder into having an extra's sock stuffed in his mouth. It may make for an okay time-killer to leave playing in the background, but it's not an essential listen for those giving this disc a weekend rental.
The twenty minute making-of is a generic extended trailer-plus-interviews that I guess was made for Comedy Central or VH-1 and never aired. If you've already seen the movie, there's no reason to bother with this excessively promotional clip. There are two bits of additional footage, including a four minute alternate ending with Roger pouring his heart out in an airport terminal. I thought there was an embargo on setting the climax of a kinda-sorta romantic comedy in an airport...y'know, in the same way that murders can't be pinned on butlers or that women of different generations are no longer allowed to bond over "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". There's also a standard issue two minute gag reel with the cast mugging to the camera, blowing lines, and getting abused. A theatrical trailer rounds out the extras.
Conclusion: School for Scoundrels squanders a fairly clever premise and settles for a tepid, lifeless sense of humor. Might be worth a rental if you're hard up for something resembling a comedy in high definition, but otherwise, I wouldn't bother.
I shelled out for the DVD contributed at least in some small part to Jon Heder ekeing out a career as the star of a series of unwatchable C-list comedies...I'm sorry. I was young and impressionable, and especially after shifting uncomfortably on my couch for a hundred-someodd minutes while suffering through the aggressively laughless School for Scoundrels, I understand what I did was wrong. It won't happen again. Take the worst elements of romantic comedies and slapstick, toss 'em in a blender, mash "Puree", and out comes a frosty glass of School for Scoundrels. This not-really-a-remake of the 1960 British comedy of the same name stars Jon Heder as Roger, a timid, dweeby meter maid who's constantly thumbing through a metric ton of self-help books in the hopes of squeaking out some self-confidence. When he's dumped by his third Little Brother and humiliates himself yet again in front of Amanda, the Australian cutie next door (Jacinda Barrett), Roger's tipped off about an underground course that specializes in grafting backbones onto losers like him. The class is led by Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton), who's not a touchy-feely Understanding Yourself and Others motivational guru so much as a sadist who encourages his students to blast each other point-blank with paintball guns and lie, lie, and lie some more to women in the hopes of getting laid. ...and it works. It works so well that Roger lands a very successful first date with the bonnie lass down the hall, but the hypercompetitive Dr. P quickly schemes his way into her heart too. So...yeah. There's the whole the-student-must-now-become-the-master thing, zany oneupsmanship as Roger and Dr. P battle it out with ball-busting tennis matches and spray-painted pooches, and not only can you pretty much write the entire third act of the movie yourself from there, you'd probably do it better.
With School for Scoundrels, writer/director Todd Phillips wanted to step away from the frat-comedy approach that shoved copies of Old School and Road Trip into the DVD collections of damn near every male
between the ages of 18 and 34. He and his writing partner Scot Armstrong set out to make something more mature...more realistic...and apparently a hell of a lot less funny. There's a grand total of one laugh in School for Scoundrels, coming courtesy of comedienne Sarah Silverman as her character accuses Roger of being a deranged serial killer. Other than that...? Nothing. Sometimes it'll pull out a great setup but doesn't bother to follow through. Tearing a page from Fight Club's book, Dr. P gives each of his students a beeper and a homework assignment: when the beeper goes off, they have to pick a fight with whoever happens to be nearby at the moment. With as many classmates as Roger has, that's...what, ten or fifteen opportunities to sprinkle in some comedy? Instead, you get chest puffing followed by a swirlie, another episode of Meek White Guy Meets Thuggish Ethnic Stereotypes, and a faceful of Jell-O. On the upside, if you come from the America's Funniest Home Videos school of humor and crack up at the sight of someone getting mauled in the groin, School for Scoundrels is a comedy cavalcade! It barely even seems to be aiming for laughs. I mean, School for Scoundrels builds up to the climax by having Roger confront Dr. P and calling him "AKA Suck It You Are Busted MMMMM!". Really? I guess the downside of having several consecutive hits is that the suits second-guess themselves and give you a free pass even when you come up a-cropper. It doesn't help that the devastatingly un-funny Jon Heder has to carry the movie on his shoulders. Can't act. Can't get a laugh. Can't close his mouth. It's no good for anyone, really. Billy Bob Thornton does alright, but he doesn't have any excuse not to since The Caustic, Sociopathic, Aging Jackass is the only type of role he does these days. (Compare! Contrast!)
School for Scoundrels is hitting HD DVD in an "unrated ballbuster edition". The writers never get around to touching on the differences between this version of the movie and the PG-13 theatrical cut in their audio commentary, but there's nothing too hot for theaters aside from maybe an extra F-bomb or two. The 'unrated' tag is just a marketing gimmick, especially considering that this is a movie that goes out of its way to avoid anything that raunchy or vulgar. Or witty, original, or even in the same time zone as actual comedy. Don't bother.
Video: School for Scoundrels' 2.39:1 AVC-encoded image looks alright, but a flat, drab visual style and some sporadic softness don't leave much to impress. The level of fine detail is decent but unremarkable, and there's something faintly jittery about the way the movie looks in motion. It's nothing dramatic or particularly distracting, but the transition from one frame to the next often didn't look quite as smooth and fluid as I'm used to seeing. Otherwise, there aren't any
flaws of note. School for Scoundrels is more or less fresh out of theaters, and the source material used for this HD DVD is in pristine shape, with no artificating visible throughout. I did spot what looked like some edge haloing in the first few minutes, but I didn't notice anything like that throughout the rest of the movie. Not disappointing but not more than a notch or two above "okay" either. Audio: This HD DVD sports soundtracks in both Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD, although School for Scoundrels isn't the kind of movie that stands to benefit much from lossless audio. The sound design is carved from the usual comedy mold: the film's dialogue is rooted in the center channel, and the surrounds and subwoofer are reserved almost entirely to reinforce various bits of music. It's a straightforward mix but generally okay: the score and a handful of sound effects never drown out the dialogue, the surrounds provide at least a little bit of ambiance and really kick in during a paintball free-for-all, and only a few scattered lines have a slightly edgy quality to them. Nothing earth-shattering, but it does the job.
A French 5.1 dub has also been tacked on, along with subtitles in English and Spanish.
Extras: All of the extras from School for Scoundrels's DVD release have made their way onto this disc, and even though none of them are in high definition, at least they're all in anamorphic widescreen.
There isn't that much to wade through here, though. The audio commentary with director/co-writer Todd Phillips and his writing partner Scot Armstrong is a low energy, borderline-lethargic discussion anchored almost entirely around the movie's cast. There are a few other topics the two of them are keen on discussing -- the production design, the challenges of shooting out of
sequence between New York exteriors and Los Angeles soundstages, the score by comedy mainstay Christophe Beck, their collaborative writing process, and aiming for more of a sense of realism this time around -- but for the most part, they're either narrating what's happening on-screen or fawning over the actors. A couple of the more interesting notes include Michael Clarke Duncan not realizing that he was playing an implied male rapist until making the press junket rounds, leaning on a digitally-rendered tennis ball when the cast's assurances that they could play turned out to be overblown, and duping Jon Heder into having an extra's sock stuffed in his mouth. It may make for an okay time-killer to leave playing in the background, but it's not an essential listen for those giving this disc a weekend rental. The twenty minute making-of is a generic extended trailer-plus-interviews that I guess was made for Comedy Central or VH-1 and never aired. If you've already seen the movie, there's no reason to bother with this excessively promotional clip. There are two bits of additional footage, including a four minute alternate ending with Roger pouring his heart out in an airport terminal. I thought there was an embargo on setting the climax of a kinda-sorta romantic comedy in an airport...y'know, in the same way that murders can't be pinned on butlers or that women of different generations are no longer allowed to bond over "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". There's also a standard issue two minute gag reel with the cast mugging to the camera, blowing lines, and getting abused. A theatrical trailer rounds out the extras.
Conclusion: School for Scoundrels squanders a fairly clever premise and settles for a tepid, lifeless sense of humor. Might be worth a rental if you're hard up for something resembling a comedy in high definition, but otherwise, I wouldn't bother.
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