Stealing Harvard (2003)

★★
Stealing Harvard starts out well enough before descending into a pathetic bore. Even then, the movie almost pulls it off. Jason Lee carries the film on his shoulders, turning in a sincere and amusing performance in a movie that doesn't give him much support. If there is any reason to see this mess, then it is Jason Lee. When left to do what he does best, Lee is engaging and funny, but when left to the requirements of this screenplay (which is most of the time), he is a victim of abuse.

John Plummer (Lee) is newly engaged and works for his fiancée's father at a medical-type facility known as Homespital. His sister is Patty (Megan Mullally), and her daughter is Noreen (Tammy Blanchard). Noreen has won a scholarship to Harvard, but she requires additional funds to complete her tuition payments. Long ago, John promised Noreen that if she made it into college, he would pay for it. He now needs to come up with $30,000, which he has, but was planning to use it as a down payment for a new house for his soon-to-be wife Elaine (Leslie Mann).

John turns to his friend Duff (Tom Green) for advice, and he recommends theft as the only method to get the money. Several ludicrous episodes follow, during which John and Duff attempt robbery but wind up with their pockets empty instead. One scene in particular, involving a big house with an unlocked safe, is so bizarre it diminishes what little credibility the film had going for it. While inside, John is caught by the owner, but instead of calling the cops, the owner forces John to dress as his dead wife and pretend to be her.

The presence of Tom Green might encourage his fans to think this movie will contain the kinds of disgusting jokes he pulled off in Freddy Got Fingered (unseen by me, and will probably stay that way). Instead, the only outrageous thing he does is scoop some melted American cheese into his mouth. In other words, as crazy as this sounds, he's not used to his fullest potential.

After the first 10 minutes or so, the best part of the movie, Stealing Harvard limps forward with no sense of comic timing or wit. There's just one desperate scene after another, showcasing the screenwriter's futile efforts to dream up funny scenes. I chuckled here and there, but those chuckles aren't nearly enough to recommend this film.

© 2003 Silver Screen Reviews