2006 was not a year that stands out as an all-timer when it comes to the genre of comedy. Sure, Borat and Talladega Nights are still quotable classics, but the field gets a bit inconsistent from there despite being filled with personal favorites. One film that has surprisingly stuck with me after all of these years is the Justin Long college comedy Accepted. The movie was fairly successful at the box office, but it would be fair to say it has mostly been forgotten by the vast majority of audience members. In addition to the always-dependable Justin Long, the movie featured Jonah Hill (“Ask me about my weiner!”) and Blake Lively before they became household names. Hell, you even had a pre-Gotham Robin Lord Taylor as an amped up student who could not settle down for the life of him. The movie had all of the hallmarks of a classic teen comedy: you had the lovable underdogs, you had an incredibly unrealistic plot that could only ever exist on screen, you had two-dimensional antagonists that you love to hate, and you had equal parts laughter and emotion to pull it all together. The film does not set out to shake up the genre, but it is a pleasant enough entry to devote some time to when you are feeling something light.
Bartleby “B” Gaines (Justin Long) is a character some of us can relate to more than others. Bartleby is the type of person who could sell ice to an eskimo. He knows how to be persuasive and hustle to get what he needs, but the one thing that he cannot coax his way into is an acceptance letter to college. Bartleby has been rejected by every college he has applied to (even his safety school!), and his parents could not be more disappointed in him. Ever the hustler, Bartleby has the grand idea to create a fake college to get his parents off his back for a while. With the help of his over-achieving best friend Sherman Schrader III (Jonah Hill), he creates the South Harmon Institute of Technology (SHIT) – functioning website and all – as a cover school for himself, and fellow rejects Rory (Maria Thayer), “Hands” (Columbus Short), and Glen (Adam Herschman). When his dad demands to take a college tour, the group must hire a dean (Lewis Black playing Sherman’s uncle Ben) and refurbish an old psychiatric hospital to act as their makeshift college. Simple enough right?
If this plot seems a tad bit ridiculous, that is because it completely is – and that’s perfectly fine! Their plan works – Bartleby’s parents are fooled by the con. The fun does not stop there, though, as their fake website was actually set up to accept students. Hundreds of college rejects descend upon this last chance at an education, and Bartleby decides they have to keep it open to function as a different kind of school. This is the type of high concept plot that you either give yourself over to or hate completely. This is a college with a huge half pipe for skateboarding next to their in-ground pool where sunbathing is a class. Functioning idiot Glen is like a mad scientist in the kitchen with exploding ingredients. There are colorful characters around every corner with huge personalities. The movie is not gut-bustingly hilarious, but it delivers some solid laughs in the way that PG-13 comedies of the time did. They lean a bit too much into the SHIT acronym humor and the novelty of having ex-strippers as students, but at its core the film has a good heart where the lesson of the day is that not everyone is on the same path of knowledge and no one should be viewed as dispensable. Isn’t that a thought worth championing?
Speaking of heart, we have not even gotten to the standard-issue romantic thread that is set up for young Bartleby. Monica (Blake Lively) is the popular girl who has been friendly with Bartleby since they were young, but she has always been prone to dating the jerk-y preppy guys. One such fellow, Hoyt Ambrose (Travis Van Winkle), attends the “sister school” of Harmon College that will, of course, cause trouble for South Harmon… especially when Monica realizes what a jerk Hoyt is and how sweet Bartleby has always been. It’s been done a thousand times, but Justin Long and Blake Lively have easy, delightful chemistry with one another. The entire film is just filled with lovable weirdos being over-the-top and hilarious. Even the smallest roles, like a delivery-man-turned-student (Joe Hursley) who majors in rocking faces off, finds room to carve out a place in this perfectly paced 90-minute movie. I would never argue that this deserves a place in the pantheon of great teen movies, but throw it on the television on a random weekend afternoon and you will have me glued to the screen the entire time. There are certain films that just make you feel good about turning your brain off and giggling at the absurdity of the situation. The fact that Accepted also brings a healthy amount of emotion just makes the experience that much more sweet.
Video Quality
Accepted makes its Blu-Ray debut with a 1080p transfer that is quite striking and represents a big step up in quality from other recent Mill Creek releases. While I have no specific details about the transfer, this appears to be derived from a solid older master that shows no signs of age-related wear and tear. For the majority of the film, the transfer looks incredibly clear and detailed with only a couple of shots exhibiting what would be labeled as excessive noise. The transfer is naturally filmic with some impressive detail in the production design and texture of clothing. Colors stand out in a really pleasing manner with bright, vivid hues leaping off the screen in almost every scene. Black levels are pleasing in their depth with not much in the way of crush present. There are no specks of print damage present in the transfer. Overall, I was quite impressed by how strong the presentation was from beginning to end.
Audio Quality
Mill Creek Entertainment brings us this new Blu-Ray with a lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix that is a stealth powerhouse. The dialogue holds up quite nicely, coming though clearly without being stepped on by the music or sound effects. The environmental effects are delineated nicely and given a dynamic placement throughout the speakers. The sounds of a raucous party along with a slew of other sounds bring nuanced life to the rear speakers. The movie features many songs from the era which sound great within the mix. This is a track that was way more dynamic than I ever expected it to be. A truly pleasing experience.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Director Steve Pink and Actors Jonah Hill, Justin Long, Lewis Black, and Adam Herschman provide a lively track featuring anecdotes about shooting locations, standout extras, difficult takes and more. This is worth a listen if you really like the movie and the actors involved in the track.
- Adams Accepted Chronicles: An 11-minute featurette in which Adam Herschman documents the incredible effort he put into making this role everything it could be. This is a fun, tongue-in-cheek piece that offers a fair amount of laughs.
- The Making of Accepted: A 10-minute featurette in which the cast and crew discuss the story and Steve Pink’s directorial efforts, dive into individual characters, reveal their experiences working with one another and more.
- Campus Tour: Six minutes of behind-the-scenes production moments including the skateboarding and motorcycle sequences, the concert, the frat house experience and more.
- Deleted Scenes: 13 minutes of unused material including a much longer sequence in which the students explain what they want out of their college experience, a longer modeling sequence, more scenes between Bartleby and Monica, and more. There’s a lot of fun stuff in here worth exploring.
- Gag Reel: An 8-minute collection of goofing around on set, flubbed and forgotten lines, ruined takes and more. There are some hilarious ad libs thrown out here.
Final Thoughts
Accepted is a decent comedy that I just so happen to adore. This movie has enough laughs and lovable characters to keep me coming back time after time. It does not set out to reinvent the wheel, but the fact that it strikes the right balance of humor and heart sets it ahead of countless movies that fumble both aspects. Mill Creek Entertainment has given this one its long-awaited Blu-Ray release with a pretty wonderful A/V presentation and a decent amount of special features. If you want a harmless teen comedy in your life, this one has done the trick for me time after time. Recommended
Accepted is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Mill Creek Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
