7.1/10
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408 user 119 critic

Retour à la fac (2003)

Old School (original title)
Tous publics | | Comedy | 13 August 2003 (France)
Trailer
2:24 | Trailer
Three friends attempt to recapture their glory days by opening up a fraternity near their alma mater.

Director:

Todd Phillips

Writers:

Court Crandall (story), Todd Phillips (story) | 3 more credits »
Reviews
Popularity
1,571 ( 48)
5 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Wilson ... Mitch
Will Ferrell ... Frank
Vince Vaughn ... Beanie
Jeremy Piven ... Pritchard
Ellen Pompeo ... Nicole
Juliette Lewis ... Heidi
Leah Remini ... Lara
Perrey Reeves ... Marissa
Craig Kilborn ... Mark
Elisha Cuthbert ... Darcie
Seann William Scott ... Peppers
Matt Walsh ... Walsh
Artie Lange ... Booker
Patrick Fischler ... Michael
Sara Tanaka ... Megan
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Storyline

Mitch, Frank and Beanie are disillusioned with their personal lives begining when Mitch's nymphomanic girlfriend, Heidi, cheats on him, then former party animal Frank gets married, but unwilling to let go of his wild life, and Beanie is a family man seeking to reclaim his wild and crazy youth. Beanie suggests that they form their own fraternity in Mitch's new house on a college campus to re-live their glory days by bringing together a variety of misfit college students, losers, middle-aged and elderly retirees as their new friends and later try to avoid being evicted by the new Dean of Students, Pritchard, whom still holds a personal grudge against all three of them. Written by Matthew Patay

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Critics say, "'Old School' is dumb and pointless." We say, "WHO CARES?" See more »

Genres:

Comedy

Certificate:

Tous publics | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Anthony Begonia auditioned for the role of Spanish. See more »

Goofs

Set in New York State, but in the end credit scene, Frank is shopping at a Jon's supermarket, a California chain. See more »

Quotes

[deleted scene]
Beanie: Can you do me a favor and tell Mitch it's perfectly okay to have sex with a 17-year-old?
Lara Campbell: Oh, yeah. It's fine, if you're 18 or you live in Louisiana.
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Crazy Credits

During most of the end credits, there are scenes showing what happened to the main characters. See more »

Alternate Versions

The Unrated DVD contains about a minute of new footage. It includes more of Frank streaking and more with Andy Dick's character, with references to animal sex and ejaculation. See more »

Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.127 (2011) See more »

Soundtracks

Hungry Like the Wolf
Written by Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon, Andy Taylor, John Taylor & Roger Taylor
Performed by Duran Duran
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music
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User Reviews

Not perfect, but a solid comedy
25 June 2003 | by thirdiSee all my reviews

Like many others, I heard a lot of buzz about "Old School" before it was released. Things like "it's the new animal house" or "an instant classic". Well, unfortunately that didn't turn out to be the case. However, that doesn't mean its a bad movie. In fact, I loved it and would highly recommend it.

As someone in the same age group as the main characters, perhaps I related too much, but the idea is great: Three 30-something guys who are solidly on the path of a normal, mature life (marriage, kids, real job, etc...) decide to start a fraternity and recapture their college glory days. No, there's no real reason to do this, and no, its not realistic at all.

But who cares? Anyone who has ever been to a raging college party, done a few beer bongs and whippits, screamed along with some loud music, and hooked up with a random coed can immediately relate to this film. Not to mention there really are some gut-busting funny scenes throughout. Luke Wilson is the perfect actor for the steady, reserved professional guy. Will Ferrell is hilarious of course, and Vince Vaughn does what he does so well, playing the instigator trying to help a best friend have fun again. Unfortunately one of his funniest scenes only made it to the deleted scenes section of the DVD.

Which brings me to my main gripe with this movie: what was left on the cutting room floor. The deleted scenes, which can be seen on the DVD of course, aren't just trivial sections that you can understand were cut, some of them are classic. The movie was only an hour and a half long, and for the life of me I can't figure out why the 10 minutes of deleted footage didn't remain. I think some of them really would've changed the entire feel of the movie. The last act kind of changes into this "Rushmore"-ish Wes Anderson knock off, and I think at least a few of the deleted scenes would've helped it make more sense.

Despite that, this movie ranks alongside Dumb & Dumber, Meet the Parents, Kingpin, and American Pie as one of the best comedies of the last decade or so in my humble opinion. No it's not a classic, but it will stand the test of time as a very good comedy that you'll laugh at with each replay.


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Frequently Asked Questions

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 August 2003 (France) See more »

Also Known As:

Retour à la fac See more »

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Box Office

Budget:

$24,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,453,216, 23 February 2003

Gross USA:

$75,585,093

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$87,135,520
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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