Going Greek

I went into this movie with some really loooow expectations, but the cast, Dylan Bruno, Oliver Hudson, Susan Ward and more actors whose faces i recognize convinced me to hire this out.

And for some strange reason...i liked it.

Jake is a failed football star who decides to help his geeky cousin get into a fraternity, and while this movie doesn't really teach us anything that we all haven't seen before, i have to say that it is the first time i have ever seen a 'Soggy Biscuit' as we call it in New Zealand, portrayed on screen.

Yes its stupid and immature - but i somehow get the feeling this was exactly what the filmmakers were striving for. Great acting, great cast and a sweet underlying message about friendship make this movie watchable at least.

My only complaints are firstly the tag line on the cover 'Animal House meets American Pie' Animal House is a classic and i don't think this movie will ever come close to the cult status Animal House enjoys. And secondly the lighting in this movie was grainy and horrendous, when i first started watching it my first thought was that i was watching a pirate copy and as the film went along i started thinking that maybe they were using hand held cameras from 1995.

But all in all, a decent movie to watch if you have the time.

A great comedy with alot on snazz and fun. If you are a brother of a fraternity, or have at least gone through pledgeship, you will definately enjoy the humor in this movie. With plenty of beer drinking, experiences through "hell week", and plenty of girls this movie will entertain you til' the very end!!!

I had the pleasure of catching this film at a screening in New York and wanted to make sure others got word that this is a film to see. First off, let's have no misconceptions here: Going Greek is not Saving Private Ryan, The Godfather or Gone With the Wind. It is, however, an excellent addition to the genre set by Animal House and further embellished by Porky's and American Pie. Is it an "important" film? Of course not, but if you want to laugh A LOT and spend a very amusing 90 minutes with a crisp, well directed and thoughtful film, then check it out.

Other reviewers have said a lot of what I would say, so I won't bore you with repetitive details, but nobody thus far has commented on the pacing of the film. A lot of movies, comedy or otherwise, spend too much time on individual scenes. The special quality of this film, and the effectiveness of Director Justin Zackham (watch for more from this guy) is that the movie drops into each scene, delivers its joke - good or bad - and gets out quickly. The result is that you are never bored. Humor being what it is, you won't be able to satisfy everyone with every joke. Zackham intuitively understands this and makes sure you don't get the chance to get restless waiting for a scene to end. The odds of this are mitigated somewhat as the writing is good enough that most of the scenes are actually really funny.

Overall, this is a film worth seeing. High art it ain't, but good laughs, a well written script and really good directing made it very worthwhile.

Let's get this straight up front: "Going Greek" does not deviate from the college-sex-party genre first established by "Animal House." Nor does it rise about fare like "Old School" or "American Pie." However, without the benefit of marquee names, "Going Greek" unearths a gem that is seldom found in most of the dredge released these days by National Lampoon: comedy. "Going Greek" is genuinely funny, with a fantastic no-name cast and terrific story to boot. If anything, the film is more akin to "PCU," another cult college film made way before Jeremy Piven joined an "Entourage" and John Favreau launched "Zathura."

And who knows? Maybe wider audiences will someday know the names Dylan Bruno and Dublin James.

Check it out.

A modern day version of Animal House with all the funny antics of the Greek Fraternity and Sorority life on a college campus. Lots of laughs. The story goes well and is fun to watch. The film is well put together for a first time director Justin Zackham. The cast of characters work well together.