Marlon Brando spoofs his famous character of Vito Corleone of "The Godfather" in this 1990 crime comedy written and directed by Andrew Bergman. Matthew Broderick stars as NYU film student Clark Kellogg who leaves his home in Vermont to pursue a career in film. When he gets off from the Grand Central Station, he is greeted by a supposed good Samaritan named Victor Ray (Bruno Kirby) who gladly carries his luggage into his car and offers the young man for a ride. As soon as Clark steps out of the car, Victor drive off with his possessions. When Kellogg first arrives in class, he must confess to his instructor Professor Fleeber (Paul Benedict) that his tuition for his books have been stolen and now must find a way to get it back.
In a sheer twist of irony, Kellogg leads Victor on foot chase in which Victor would gladly return Kellogg's possessions on account that he work for his uncle Carmine Sabatini (Marlon Brando). Carmine gets Kellogg to work as his errand boy (a gopher to some of you) as Kellogg reluctantly but desperately accepts. One of his first initiatives was go to JFK Airport and to pick up an endangered giant lizard (Komodo dragon) and to deliver the lizard to the Fabulous Gourmet Club owned by mysterious chef Larry London (Maximilian Schell) who takes the lizard in to be be made into a costly priced meal. While this is happening, two Federal Agents Chuck Greenwald and Lloyd Simpson (Jon Polito and Richard Gant) are on his trail, but they eventually turn out to be henchmen to a rival crime family destined to kill both Carmine and Kellogg. If that's not enough for Kellogg to have angst, Carmine's daughter Tina (Penelope Ann Miller) has taken an interest in Kellogg and laying false claim that she and Clark are engaged.
Joining in on the craziness includes Miss America pageant host Bert Parks as he parodies his legacy even crooning to his trademark song "There She Is" while being backed up by rockers Was (Not Was). Also in the cast include Frank Whaley as Kellogg's roommate Steve Bushak, and B.D. Wong as the effeminate assistant to London, Edward.
The viewers may get the wrong impression that "The Freshman" is any good due the discouraging comments Marlon Brando said about the film, depending if they even cared what he had to say about it. It may also not seek approval due to the fact that the title of the movie is exactly the same as the 1925 Harold Lloyd film even though it may have not been purposefully intended. In one of the more cleverly put Easter Eggs, a poster of Lloyd's comical rival Buster Keaton is taped at Kellogg's door to his dorm.
In spite of the negativity from Brando, the fans gave at the most very positive feedback after watching this movie. Even though it didn't score very well at the box office, "The Freshman" got a positive vibe from the small percentage who have seen the film. It may have had more approval from the men than to the female audience, but that is easy to understand knowing that the cast was predominately male and that the females would be turned off by Miller's jaunty performance feeling forced and somewhat annoying.
Under the penmanship and direction of Andrew Bergman, he has had his share of hits and misses (hits include "Honeymoon in Vegas" and misses like "Striptease") I felt that this film was one of his bigger hits, in spite of its low-budget and its low profile, I still had a fun time watching this movie as the energy level remained high, comedy was never short of laughs and the story was easy to follow without insulting anyone to the ground.
The reason this film work very well is due to the casting of huge talents like Brando, Broderick, Miller and Kirby who are all very talented performers. I did however felt there were certain cast members who look a little long in the face in their respected roles (especially Broderick who was 28 at the time playing a 19 year old). But that did not completely hindered my enthusiasm in watching this movie because they all played their roles convincingly and I'm sure if Brando would have not been cast, the film would've surely been rewritten.
The story it self may lack in plausible situations of what's in store for the characters. New York City is the largest city in North America, who would've expected Kellogg found Victor days after Victor rode off with his possessions? What was the motives behind Carmine for hiring the naive Kellogg to do his dirty work? Hollywood is the only time you will ever witness a Komodo dragon run loosely in a shopping mall.
But when the smoke clears, every scenario of the movie is pieced together. The comedy makes you laugh at the right moments, the story flows along smoothly and in spite of the surrealism, it never takes itself seriously. I ask myself who was the funniest supporting character in the film? For me it was Paul Benedict as the eccentric, self-serving film instructor. Even though every character delivers their lines and each of them have very funny moments. Even though it's low-budget and not perfect, the approval is very high.
In a sheer twist of irony, Kellogg leads Victor on foot chase in which Victor would gladly return Kellogg's possessions on account that he work for his uncle Carmine Sabatini (Marlon Brando). Carmine gets Kellogg to work as his errand boy (a gopher to some of you) as Kellogg reluctantly but desperately accepts. One of his first initiatives was go to JFK Airport and to pick up an endangered giant lizard (Komodo dragon) and to deliver the lizard to the Fabulous Gourmet Club owned by mysterious chef Larry London (Maximilian Schell) who takes the lizard in to be be made into a costly priced meal. While this is happening, two Federal Agents Chuck Greenwald and Lloyd Simpson (Jon Polito and Richard Gant) are on his trail, but they eventually turn out to be henchmen to a rival crime family destined to kill both Carmine and Kellogg. If that's not enough for Kellogg to have angst, Carmine's daughter Tina (Penelope Ann Miller) has taken an interest in Kellogg and laying false claim that she and Clark are engaged.
Joining in on the craziness includes Miss America pageant host Bert Parks as he parodies his legacy even crooning to his trademark song "There She Is" while being backed up by rockers Was (Not Was). Also in the cast include Frank Whaley as Kellogg's roommate Steve Bushak, and B.D. Wong as the effeminate assistant to London, Edward.
The viewers may get the wrong impression that "The Freshman" is any good due the discouraging comments Marlon Brando said about the film, depending if they even cared what he had to say about it. It may also not seek approval due to the fact that the title of the movie is exactly the same as the 1925 Harold Lloyd film even though it may have not been purposefully intended. In one of the more cleverly put Easter Eggs, a poster of Lloyd's comical rival Buster Keaton is taped at Kellogg's door to his dorm.
In spite of the negativity from Brando, the fans gave at the most very positive feedback after watching this movie. Even though it didn't score very well at the box office, "The Freshman" got a positive vibe from the small percentage who have seen the film. It may have had more approval from the men than to the female audience, but that is easy to understand knowing that the cast was predominately male and that the females would be turned off by Miller's jaunty performance feeling forced and somewhat annoying.
Under the penmanship and direction of Andrew Bergman, he has had his share of hits and misses (hits include "Honeymoon in Vegas" and misses like "Striptease") I felt that this film was one of his bigger hits, in spite of its low-budget and its low profile, I still had a fun time watching this movie as the energy level remained high, comedy was never short of laughs and the story was easy to follow without insulting anyone to the ground.
The reason this film work very well is due to the casting of huge talents like Brando, Broderick, Miller and Kirby who are all very talented performers. I did however felt there were certain cast members who look a little long in the face in their respected roles (especially Broderick who was 28 at the time playing a 19 year old). But that did not completely hindered my enthusiasm in watching this movie because they all played their roles convincingly and I'm sure if Brando would have not been cast, the film would've surely been rewritten.
The story it self may lack in plausible situations of what's in store for the characters. New York City is the largest city in North America, who would've expected Kellogg found Victor days after Victor rode off with his possessions? What was the motives behind Carmine for hiring the naive Kellogg to do his dirty work? Hollywood is the only time you will ever witness a Komodo dragon run loosely in a shopping mall.
But when the smoke clears, every scenario of the movie is pieced together. The comedy makes you laugh at the right moments, the story flows along smoothly and in spite of the surrealism, it never takes itself seriously. I ask myself who was the funniest supporting character in the film? For me it was Paul Benedict as the eccentric, self-serving film instructor. Even though every character delivers their lines and each of them have very funny moments. Even though it's low-budget and not perfect, the approval is very high.