This movie will always get the big envelope from me.
Nothing is more soul-crushing to the youth of the world than the end of August. As the summer comes to a close and the Autumn chill begins to fill the air, it becomes increasingly apparent that the start of the school year is right around the corner. There are plenty of things I miss about being a student but the sense of dread that creeps in at the beginning of September is not one of them. Going back to school is rarely an enjoyable experience so I thought I’d choose a movie for this week’s Wayback that while being all about school and education, is the complete antithesis to the cloud of negativity that hangs over the heads of returning students. It was definitely an overreach for one review to call Accepted (2006), “this generation’s Animal House (1978),” but it’s still a super fun and severely underrated comedy that I am an adoring fan of.
Accepted tells the story of Bartleby Gaines, a high school slacker who is rejected by every college he applies to. To convince his parents he’s not a failure, Bartleby and his friends create a fake college on a rundown piece of property. All goes according to plan until a horde of similarly rejected students arrive for enrolment.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this movie. I absolutely love it. In fact, it’s one of my favourites. Which is odd because I’m not normally drawn to these kind of mid-2000s, frat bro comedies. But Accepted is a far cry from the juvenile, misogynistic, toilet-based humour of movies like, American Pie (1999), Superbad (2007), or National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (2002). Which based on the premise, it easily could have turned into. Don’t get me wrong, Accepted isn’t a stuffy, high-brow piece of art, but what sets it apart from those other movies is how earnest it is and how much heart it has. Instead of leaving you cringing from borderline criminal plots to sleep with women, gross-out body humour and hateful slurs used in the name of comedy, Accepted fills audiences with joy and a sense of community as it relies on the celebration of the zany and the outcast, one fast-paced joke after another. This movie elevates the college-comedy subgenre and delivers something that is a welcome blend of wacky shenanigans and heartwarming self-pride.
It also helps that Accepted has more up its sleeve humour-wise than a singular joke. From silly slapstick to Jonah Hill’s masterclass in sarcasm to the ridiculously unhinged chaos of having Lewis Black posing as the dean of a college, there is no shortage of comedic material in this movie. Although to be honest, I could have done with less of Glen, the movie’s designated comedic relief. Hill, Black and most importantly, star Justin Long give much more hilarious performances and I don’t really think a “he’s so random, isn’t that funny?” character was needed.
Can we talk about Justin Long? I just love him. I have not only enjoyed his performance in every movie of his I’ve seen, but the movie overall as well. Bartleby Gaines is one of Long’s best roles, one that is a great demonstration of his rapid-fire comedic wit and charm. It’s Long’s inherent likability and charisma that is a large part of what makes Accepted works. He’s electric and carries the movie on his back, appearing in pretty much every scene. How brave of him as a non-singer to agree to a musical number! Sure, it’s a Ramones song so it’s not too difficult to perform, but kudos nonetheless! I am so thankful that this movie came out in 2006 and not any later otherwise we would have someone like Christopher Mintz-Plasse playing Bartleby which wouldn’t have had the same effect. Speaking of the mid-2000s, Hill, Blake Lively, Kellan Lutz…Accepted features some actors who were about to BLOW UP in the next few years.
It’s funny, or interesting rather, to think that there isn’t as much shame anymore around not going to college. Or at least, not going to college immediately after graduation. Or HAVING to go to a prestigious school. Honestly, I don’t understand why Bartleby and friends simply didn’t just take a gap year, or apply to community college, or gone to art school. Of course, than we wouldn’t have gotten the awesome wish-fulfillment school of South Harmon Institute of Technology. Could you imagine if your college not only let you make up your own classes, but had you teaching the classes as well as not having any kind of testing or assignments AND being a non-stop party? The fantasy of this movie is so damn enjoyable and I’m more than a little envious of the students college experience each time I watch Accepted. I also love the gag of the students made-up classes not being far from real classes and programs that help develop students skills, interests and opinions. Sure, it’s dressed up in funny course titles, but the students at S.H.I.T. end up learning woodworking, philosophy, culinary arts, women’s studies and engineering. AND there’s a tiki bar and a rock concert that turns into a wet t-shirt contest? Who do I make my tuition cheque out to?
Accepted may not be perfect or necessarily exceptionally well-made and yet, there’s an inexplicable charm to this movie that makes it endlessly rewatchable and full of lighthearted fun. It reminds me of Yes Man (2008) – check out my review for that movie, here – in the sense that it’s a simple comedy that ends up reigniting my passion and interest for the things that bring me joy in life. I’m inspired to be more creative, test my limits and pursue all that intrigues me. Yes, all of those deep thoughts are conjured in a movie that also has a character who seriously declares that he wants to “blow shit up with my mind.”
Have you seen Accepted?
Let me know in the comments or on social media!
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