Accepted

Check out the South Harmon Institute of Technology's promotional video:
Windows slow speed
Windows medium speed
Windows fast speed
Quicktime slow
Quicktime medium
Quicktime fast

Sign Up For The Accepted Yearbook!

High school senior Bartleby "B" Gaines is on his way to scoring eight out of eight rejection letters from colleges--which isn't going to go over big with Mom and Dad. At least he's not alone in the exclusion. Several of his crew of outcast friends are in the same, college-less boat. So...how does a guy facing a bleak career please his parents and get noticed by dream girl Monica?

Simple. Open his own university.

B and his band of misfit freshmen take "liberal" arts literally when they fool their parents and peers and create the esteemed South Harmon Institute of Technology. They clean up an abandoned psychiatric facility, employ a buddy's brilliant but subversive--uncle (Lewis Black) as the dean and create a fake web site as their campus calling card. Bam! South Harmon, the alternative school of higher learning, is born.

Just as they are settling in, B and company realize they've done their jobs too well. Dozens of other college rejects show up for classes at this less-than-lofty institute. Under the scornful eyes of the privileged students from the neighboring college, B and his friends forge ahead with maintaining a fake, functioning university. Their efforts to explore alternative education result in a battle between the South Harmon co-eds and the "sister" school snobs.

With his future in the balance, it's going to take more than just sleight of hand to keep B out of jail as he strives to get the girl, impress his parents and just become...Accepted.

Accepted is produced by Tom Shadyac (Bruce Almighty, Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor) and Michael Bostick (Bruce Almighty, Liar Liar) and is directed by Steve Pink (writer of High Fidelity and Grosse Pointe Blank in his feature film directorial debut). It is written by Mark Perez, Adam Cooper & Bill Collage.

Cast: Justin Long, Jonah Hill, Blake Lively, Adam Herschman, Maria Thayer, Anthony Heald, Columbus Short and Lewis Black

Write Your Own Reviews and E-Mail them to: Reviews - Comicsrus@aol.com

"The concept of this film is pretty ridiculous: A kid inventing and running his own college? Not only is the concept ridiculous, but the acting is awful. The film can't decide whether to be a cheesy melodramatic comedy or just a plain comedy. The sad part is the film is not funny. Maybe one or two chuckles here and there, but that's it. Lewis Black starring as the dean of this fake college could have brought in some major laughs, but he falls flat. His sub-par acting probably has something to do with this. I felt uncomfortable and awkward watching his performance. Justin Long, in his first leading film role, is the only believable character in the film. It's a shame his first choice for a lead is this movie. I could not wait for this movie to end. When it finally reached the credits, I realized I had no idea any of the characters' names in order to even write this review. This film tells us to "reject rejection" but I say reject Accepted." -Natalie Smith

The trials and tribulations of college life start way before classes begin. Do applications ring a bell? Countless hours of deciding where to go, what to major in, and what to write for that pointless essay… are impossible to forget. However, it's the rejection letter that not only ruins your self-esteem, but crushes your future dreams. At the start of the movie, a door is opened for those students who weren't given chance: who were rejected, who didn't get straight A's, whose SAT scores were…well you get the point. As the main character Bartleby Gaines molds an abandoned mental hospital into a place of "higher" education, fiction becomes fact. For months this "fake" school is up and running; classes being held, food being made, dorm rooms built. As in every plot, the truth becomes revealed, and Bartleby is called out on his scheme (which started as a small lie to his parents in order to win their pride). The kids at South Harmon Institute of Technology (S.H.I.T.) are forced to pack their bags and return to so called reality. Bartleby, however, does not take no for answer. By the end of the movie, with a little bit of passion, integrity, and determination, the kids at S.H.I.T., were happily ever Accepted. ~ Lauren Fleishman

Accepted wasn't on the top of my list of movies to see, and personally I think I should have kept it that way. In this era of great teen movies such as Can't Hardly Wait or Old School, Accepted seemed to be trying too hard. All I saw was yet another teen movie about the geek getting his chance to become known and get the girl he had been after his entire life. I laughed a few times...a few. The line, "Ask me about my weiner!" still makes me laugh, but as all other funny scenes in the movie, was featured in the trailer. I know what it feels like to be rejected by a school and have no idea what to do with your life, so I liked the whole message of: "Be your own person", "Follow your own path," etc. However, the whole movie was downright cheesy and extremely unrealistic. (Creating a college within what seemed like 15 minutes? Right...) For all the teen movies out today to watch, I will not "accept" Accepted as a quality one. ~ Kaitlin Sunstrum

e-mail


Advertise on PopCultureMadness