An actor can have a very distinctive voice and still have a long and illustrious career filled with a wide variety of memorable roles that live on in the minds of movie fans everywhere. Jack Nicholson is a perfect example. You’d recognize his voice anywhere, but it doesn’t distract you from great performances in films like “Easy Rider,” “The Shining” and “A Few Good Men.” Jon Heder, the star of “School for Scoundrels” and also the star of “Napoleon Dynamite” is unlikely to share the same good fortune that Nicholson does. You hear Heder speak and you instantly hear Napoleon asking you to “Vote for Pedro.”

Heder’s co-star in “School for Scoundrels” is Billy Bob Thornton, who would have painted his career in a corner if he had started it with “Bad Santa.” Fortunately for him, he had a long and diverse career before playing foul-mouthed curmudgeons and audiences get an all too brief reminder of what this guy can do when he gets a script that calls for something other than calling people “morons” or “idiots” (or worse).

The plot of “School for Scoundrels” focuses on losers (like Heder) who pay a guy (Thornton) to teach them to be more assertive and get what they want out of life, whether it is respect, more money or a certain girl. Heder wants the confidence to get the attentions of a beautiful neighbor, and he does, but soon Thornton’s Dr. P begins to get interested in her as well (or does he?) and the teacher and the student battle it out for her love. There is not enough of the battle and there is not enough uncertainty over whether Heder’s character is really being challenged for his girlfriend or whether it is all just a test.

“School for Scoundrels” is not a very good movie and you can tell very early on. One big clue was when David Cross, typically king of the great movie cameo (just see the two “Men in Black” films), couldn’t squeeze a laugh out of his scene with Heder. Things picked up for a little bit as the class started learning their lessons, but there were big stretches of time where the movie lost a lot of steam. Both Thornton and Heder had some nice moments, as did several of the students (all veterans of the improv/comedy world) particularly Todd Louiso as Eli (you might remember him from “High Fidelity”) and Paul Scheer, one of the VH1 comedians that shows up on all of their shows. Michael Clarke Duncan also had a good scene, posing as a date for the guys so that they could learn how to treat a lady at dinner.

I know this is going to sound weird, especially about a movie called “School for Scoundrels,” but it wasn’t mean or dark enough. Heder and Thornton battle for the girl, but there is a real lack of drama or intensity in their shenanigans.

This movie will be out of theaters quickly and it will fade from memory even faster. It’s too bad it was so mediocre, because director Todd Phillips has had good success with taking what should be a middling film and finding comedic gold (See “Road Trip” and “Old School”).

login to post comments