School for Scoundrels

School for Scoundrels *1/2

"School for Scoundrels" doesn't seem to want to accept the fact that it's a black comedy. And it could have been a much better one at that. Come on, it has the makings. . . casting Jon Heder, who was hilarious in "Napolean Dynamite," and then casting Billy Bob Thornton, the only actor that could play a fantastic jerk of a man. It may seem like he's been type cast ever since "Bad Santa" came out, but everybody has to admit that he does a fantastic job whenever he plays one of the meanest men of alive. His acting alone saved the remake of "Bad News Bears" from being complete trite. But anyway, here he is again, fine as always, and he might have again saved a film from being completely terrible. "School for Scoundrels" needed more. I wanted it to be meaner. I wanted it to be darker, and I wanted it for be funnier. I just felt that they copped out by turning this potentially dark film into a silly, slapstick romantic comedy. The entire third act was just a gimmick, and not a very good one at that.

"School for Scoundrels" tells the story of Roger, a poor and lonely meter clerk who is always getting chased around by the same people that he has to ticket. Case in point are these two men who took his entire uniform when he tried to ticket them for a foul park job. Roger does not have the best luck at all. He volunteers at a "Big Brother" program in the gym, for the last three kids that he tried to mentor wanted a change. So, his friend and boss gives him a phone number, but tells him that he can never tell anyone about it. All he needs to do is call the number and follow the instructions. Roger's curiosity gets the better of him, and the number leads him to Dr. P, a self help instruction whose class is underground and secret. There is no set meeting, so everyone in the class has to be ready at all times. Dr. P teaches lessons about confidence, and advice towards the opposite sex. "Be Dangerous! It's Cool!" is at the top of the board one day. Roger uses Dr. P's advice to ask out Amanda, his next door neighbor. He also catches the attention of Dr. P, when during a hands out activity involving paintball, shoots Dr. P's muscle Lesher in the face. However, Dr. P doesn't like competition, and soon he's "accidentally" bumping into Amanda at the bookstore, and chatting her away. Roger catches on to Dr. P, and tries to show everyone the kind of phoney that he is.

I was happy that the ending of "School for Scoundrels" wasn't what I expected it to be. Without giving anything away, if anyone has seen the ending to "Anger Management" they may have a vague idea of how I thought this was going to conclude, and at first it does, but then it pulls a second twist on you. This is just a poor excuse for the full potential that this film had. Maybe on paper there was more substance to it. A few more darker jokes, and maybe it was more spirited, but also maybe director Todd Phillips cut all of that out to make it more commercial. It even had one of the biggest Hollywood third acts that I have seen in a comedy in a while. There was even Roger wearing dark sunglasses, with spy music featured on the score. To add to it, many of the jokes that are actually in the film aren't very funny either, so it is kind of a lose-lose situation. The romantic plot of the film never really works either, as John Heder and Jacinda Barrett don't have the greatest chemistry that I've seen. Acting wise, she is much higher as well, and I never really understood why she was in this movie to begin with. This is the kind of film you make when your starting to get roles, and not when you've already proved yourself. It may just be me, but I thought that she was terrific in both "Ladder 49" and the "The Last Kiss." One of the best parts of the latter, anyway. There is even a pretty ridiculous cameo by Ben Stiller towards the end, but by then the film has lost all hope of trying to regain comedic value. I didn't have the good time that I could have had with "School for Scoundrels." Billy Bob, your rudeness and great insult delivery is wasted here. Jon Heder, show the perfection you did when you played Napolean Dynamite one more time. Please. . . before it's too late.