Admission

ADMISSION

Director : Paul Weitz

Year : 2013

Genre : Comedy

Rating : ***

If I am to be truly honest, 'Admission' was one of the movies of 2013 that I was most dreading. Directed by Paul Weitz, maker of films such as 'American Pie', 'Cirque Du Freak : The Vampire's Assistance' and the evil 'Little Fockers'  as well as starring the vexatious Paul Rudd, 'Admission'  had all the ingredients to be an absolute train wreck of a picture. However, thanks to a great comedic performance by Tina Fey, a reserved and likable performance by Rudd and a slick screenplay written by Karen Croner, 'Admission' actually turns out to be a fun, charming if not, completely forgettable film. Filled with almost ingalactically unbelievable consequences, conventional and clichéd archetypes and a finale that is so obvious it's painful, the movie ticks all the boxes that are expected from this kind of comedy. However despite it's shortcomings, it is still a frothy piece of confectionary that should that should satisfy your hunger for light hearted cheese.

Portia (Fey) is a straitlaced admissions officer for Princeton university but her conventional and methodical world is soon ripped apart when she makes a recruiting visit to  Quest, an alternative college governed by the carefree and personable John (Rudd).  John has discovered that a very gifted but socially awkward student named Jeremiah might actually be the child that Portia put up for adoption decades ago. Determined to do right by her 'son', Portia soon finds herself twisting and bending the rules for admission to Princeton and while becoming closer to her estranged son and falling into a romance beyond her dreams, she also puts her well paid and sought after job on the line.

  

As you can probably tell from my introduction, I am not the biggest fan of Paul Weitz as a director. Despite one or two remotely entertaining movies ('About A Boy' immediately springs to mind), Weitz hasn't made anything of note. Yes, I am including the highly overated 'American Pie' in this. However, he does a good job of bringing us into the worlds of these different characters and the variety in the locations and the characterisations make for interesting dialogue and changes of atmosphere; from the stiff upper lips of the interns at Princeton, to the rural members of Quest, we see a wide palette of the youth of America and the ideologies that shape their culture and thoughts.

As always, Tina Fey is brilliant in a central role and her famed comedic timing is out for all to see. She has good fun with both the physical and verbal comedy and the film just cements her place as one of the funniest women on the planet.  But 'Admission' also gives her the chance to prove that she has a dramatic string to her bow and the few moments in the film that are meant to be heart warming or moving genuinely are; thanks to her evocative and personable characterisations. She plays a woman whose principles and ways of life are put under pressure and we see a person change from a ruthless admissions officer, not afraid to tick the dreaded 'deny' box on a folder at any time to a woman fighting for someone she barely knows and sobbing while she does it. Yes, there maybe the added emotion of the fact that the kid she is campaigning for may be her son, but I got the feeling that she would be feeling the same passion even if she wasn't related to the boy in any way. To see someone completely flip personalities in 90 minutes is quite extraordinary and we go from disliking her to feeling deep sympathy for her. Now that's good acting.

To me, Paul Rudd has become one of the most irritating persons on the entire face of the earth. Since his supporting role in 'The 40 Year Old Virgin', Rudd has continued to play the same goddamn character in every single film he stars. Whether it's 'Knocked Up' or 'I Love You, Man', the sex crazed, drug taking punchable jerk has become his trademark and I have become increasingly bored with his one note performances. However, 'Admission' gives him a chance to open up and we finally see him take on a role in which he is relatable and above, really likable. I truly believed that his character fell for Portia and that he genuinely wanted to help her. Sex wasn't the first thing on his mind, it was love and it was a joy to see Paul Rudd play a character like this. I just hope that he gets more roles like this, rather than the frat boy, teenage archetypes he has been given time and time again.

Amazingly. out of the thousands upon thousands that apply to Princeton and other major colleges and universities across the world, only a few hundred get the desired placements. 'Admission' explores in quite some detail the ethics and the realities of allowing strangers to choose the paths of millions of young adults purely based on the exams and successes of their academic lives. I for one have never agreed with the picking process and I truly believe that millions have lost out on the chance of a lifetime purely because they didn't get an A in physical education or did well in advanced design. So what? Many subjects that we learnt as kids will never play a part in our lives and 'Admission' shows that university places should be chosen on personal achievements, not conformist examinations and worldwide surveys. The movie doesn't exactly fall into either bracket but it is clear through the direction and the screenplay how the filmmakers feel about this still highly controversial issue.

While 'Admission' explores a subject matter that is close to my heart, this really is only sugar coating for the relationship between Paul Rudd and Tina Fey. As I mentioned earlier, the film is nothing special and will probably fail miserably at the box office. But it is by far Paul Weitz's best film in a long time and showcases my favourite Paul Rudd performance to date. Not too long and certainly not too bad, the film is certainly worth the price of an 'Admission' ticket.