School For Scoundrels (2006)

"As usual, Thornton remains fully committed to the performance.  Keith Phipps, The Onion A.V. Club
"You'll enjoy yourself.  M.E. Russell, Portland Oregonian
"Uproarious and unexpectedly biting.  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Editor's Note Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton) runs a SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS at which luckless men are given a crash course in the ways of the alpha male. Dishing out trite but, to the men involved, revelatory advice about how to "initiate confrontation" and "lie, lie, and lie some more," Dr. P turns his students into virile studs who hide their still-lingering insecurities behind sunglasses and absurd bluster. When one student, the kindhearted but painfully awkward Roger (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE's Jon Heder), has too easy of a time capturing the girl of his dreams, Dr. P's competitive streak goes off the charts and a battle between teacher and student ensues. After an exchange of several pranks, each with increased maliciousness and consequence, one of the two fellas lands the girl. While SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS (based on a British comedy from the 1960s, and co-written and directed by Todd Phillips) doesn't reach the rambunctious fever pitch of OLD SCHOOL (also directed by Phillips) or contain the oddly endearing, near-sublime vulgarity of THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, it does have its fair share of laughs. The primary redeeming quality of the film is its excellent cast, which features various alumni of THE UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, and MR. SHOW (including Matt Walsh, Paul Scheer, Horatio Sanz, Sarah Silverman, and David Cross). Billy Bob Thorton has developed something of a mid-career cottage industry playing foul-mouthed S.O.Bs; Heder has the lovably awkward dork down to a twitch-filled science (his panic attacks nearly induce the same in the audience); and while former REAL WORLD LONDON cast member Jacinda Barrett is stuck in the somewhat restrictive girlfriend role as Amanda, she's genuinely charming and effervescent. Fans of the early-2000s "frat pack"-style comedies should find much to amuse them in SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS.

	Ben Stiller
	Billy Bob Thornton
	Horatio Sanz
	Jacinda Barrett
	Jon Heder
	Luis Guzman
	Michael Clarke Duncan
	Sarah Silverman
	Christophe Beck - Original Music By
	Dan Schalk - Editor
	Daniel Goldberg - Producer
	Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer
	Jonathan Brown - Cinematographer
	Leslie Jones - Editor
	Scot Armstrong - Screenplay
	Scott Meehan - Art Director
	Stephen Potter - Based On Novel By
	Todd Phillips - Director
	Todd Phillips - Screenplay

Movieline's Hollywood Life
"Jon Heder gives an enormously winning performance as the geeky, self-effacing parking meter man who gains confidence under the tutelage of the conniving Billy Bob Thornton." 09/01/2006 p.101

Rolling Stone
3 stars out of 4 -- "Thornton is fiendishly funny, lacing his charm with a cruelty that spares no one....Thornton and Heder keep you howling." 10/05/2006 p.78

Sight and Sound
"Jon Heder is oddly sweet both as the put-upon Roger and the more dashing later version....There is effective comic creation here..." 03/01/2007 p.74

Ultimate DVD
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he cast winningly handle those two humour essentials -- love and violence." 08/01/2007 p.124

Reel.com 8 of 10
Jon Heder is no longer sporting frizzy hair and moon boots and breathing through his mouth; he's Roger, the shy meter maid (man?) in Todd Phillips' wickedly funny School for Scoundrels. And if anything, he's an even bigger nerd than Napoleon Dynamite. At least Napoleon has an over-abundance of self-confidence...As long as the movie stays focused on the competition between Roger and Dr. P, it is hilarious. Less a fight between stags, this is the dust-up that ensues when a bunny rabbit throws down against the wolf that wants to devour him and takes advantage of the resulting surprise. Elmer Fudd could have explained it to Dr. P: You have to watch out for those wascally wabbits, especially after you've made them hopping mad. - Pam Grady

The Village Voice 8 of 10
The latest from Old School director Todd Phillips updates the 1960 original (which was based on Stephen Potter's series of how-to-get-ahead novels) about a man of little confidence who enrolls in a class he believes will teach him self- reliance; it's Bad Santa meets Napoleon Dynamite, quite literally...Thornton, who found his nasty niche in Bad Santa only to seem terribly lost in Bad News Bears, doesn't repeat himself here. Dr. P is a classy, cool brand of vile - the demented drill sergeant in a designer suit. And Heder, cast in the role of the invisible man, is fine too. The movie wouldn't work without someone as nondescript as Heder, because you can buy him as a do-nothing, go-nowhere man; he's perfectly, wonderfully forgettable, appropriate for a movie like this. - Robert Wilonsky