“Last minute cancellation of plans meant last minute opportunity to run to the movies last night. Between that and doubling today, that makes it the first weekend in a while where I’ve managed 3 flicks. Highest priority was Admission, which I really shoulda tried to squish in last week.
I don’t do the whole romantic comedy thing. But I absolutely do Paul Rudd movies and Tina Fey movies. Thankfully, the romance was just played up for the trailers but played down in the actual film. It really was a character journey for Fey’s Portia, a Princeton admissions officer. As someone who did manage to get in to a rather difficult and picky school (MIT), it was really cool to see what happens on the other side of the curtain. Get an idea of what the process is actually like, even if it was a highly fictionalized representation. That I think was the biggest win for me with this film.
The rest of it was a little bland. Now, Ms Fey can make any role watchable by adding her own Tina Fey-isms to the film, just as she did here. We may not have seen anything new from her, but it’s a comforting familiar. Similar with Paul Rudd. His John may have been a little less Paul Rudd-ish than usual, but still the typical charming eccentric we know and love. The plot was rather contrived and mostly predictable, with a few refreshing curveballs. The one place where it does gain a few creativity points is I loved how reading applications was illustrated by the student appearing in the room and reciting their information. I enjoyed hearing each of them.
There was a fantastic supporting cast as well, with Lily Tomlin and Wallace Shawn. I could’ve done without Michael Sheen and Sonya Walger, or without their characters at least. I get why they existed, but it was awkward, nails on chalkboard whenever they were on screen. Still, it was a fun ride. Again, you really can’t go wrong when you’ve got the likes of Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.
Admission – \m/ \m/ \m/