Stars:
Tom Green, Jason Lee, Megan Mullally, Dennis Farina, Leslie Mann, Richard
Jenkins, John C. McGinley, and Chris Penn
Writer:
Peter Tolan
Based
On A Story By: Martin Hynes and Peter Tolan
Director:
Bruce McCulloch
Feature
length: 82 minutes
Extras:
Deleted Scenes, Filmographies, and Theatrical Trailers
Languages:
English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 28
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2002/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Revolution Studios
Home
Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
John
(Jason Lee) made a promise to his niece that if she was ever accepted to Harvard
University, he would make sure money would not prevent her from attending. Now
his niece is a high school senior and has been accepted to Harvard with a
combination of financial aid and whatnot to help pay the tuition, but she is
short just under thirty thousand dollars to make her dream come true. It so
happens that Jason has saved thirty thousand dollars with his fiancée, but that
money is for a down payment on a house where they will live after their married.
John doesn’t want to tell his wife about his predicament because they have
both worked hard to earn that nest egg to make their dream a reality, but he
can’t break his niece’s heart so he goes to his nutty childhood friend Duff
(Tom Green) after exhausting nearly every other avenue to borrow the money. Duff
is pretty wacky and is definitely not the brightest guy in town, but sometimes
his ideas actually work so while trying to hide the fact that he needs the
thirty grand for his niece from his wife and avoiding her overbearing father
(Dennis Farina), John and Duff go on a series of misadventures as they try to
raise the cash.
“Stealing
Harvard” was directed by “Kids In The Hall” alumni Bruce McCulloch and
should have been at the very least been a fairly straight forward comedy of
errors, but for whatever the reasons, McCulloch goes for a more zany if not off
the wall approach that makes the behavior of the characters seem ridiculous to
the point of complete absurdity. There is nothing wrong with a comic farce and
characters behaving strangely as long as there is a context of some reality the
viewer can identify with. McCulloch seems more interested in having his
characters behave strangely than justifying their behavior. As a result viewers
will not care for the characters, which is the film’s biggest flaw. Perhaps
this is an unfair comparison, but look at the Farrelly Brothers, whose comedies
“Kingpin” and “There’s Something About Mary” both contain outrageous
humor and strange characters that actually forward the story through the comedy
and do not just service the comedy. As a result these character driven comedies
can get away with weird characters and whatnot in part because we care about the
characters enough to laugh at their misadventures, but still hope that somehow
they will succeed in their endeavors. The characters of “Stealing Harvard”
in contrast are one dimensional, cliché, and almost incomprehensible. So aside
from a few cute moments, “Stealing Harvard” is a comic dud and ultimately a
film that is easily forgotten after viewing it.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment presents “Stealing Harvard” in a bright
anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio. The colors are solid and there are
not artifacts to be found, but I did notice some shimmering along the top edge
that was a bit distracting. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is
mixed more for the soundtrack songs rather than the film itself, but overall is
clear and not distorted. A French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack
is also provided as well as English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing
impaired and French Language Subtitles encoded onto the DVD as options.
Extra
features include five letterboxed (1.85:1) deleted scenes taken from a video
source and featuring English Stereo Sound. These scenes are respectively made up
of “Band Candy” (: 29), “Hawaiian Punch” (1:35), “Patty And Noreen
Visit Elaine” (3:56), “Elaine Makes A Nice Dinner, But John Has To Leave”
(1:31), and “Wedding Reception” (2:43). Be sure to watch the film through to
the end of the credits to catch some outtakes as well. Select filmographies for
the Cast, Writers, and Director are also included along with widescreen (1.85:1)
trailers for “Stealing Harvard” (2:30), “Anger Management” (1:41),
“Darkness Falls” (2:01), “Maid In Manhattan” (2:33), “The New Guy”
(2:10), and “xXx” (1:32). All of the trailers feature full English Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks.
The
main menu is animated with animated transitions to standard interactive still
frame menus and all of the interactive menus are easy to navigate. “Stealing
Harvard” will debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday, February 18, 2003 from Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.