How I Got Into College

I enjoy watching How I Got Into College every once in a while, as I do Savage Steve Holland's other two films Better Off Dead and One Crazy Summer. Sure, they're all rather tame films on a PG level but Holland has such a great wit and always chooses a wonderful cast. This makes for enjoyable entertainment where you can actually care about the characters and get a few laughs in as well.

Corey Parker plays a high school senior intent on winning the affections of class president Lara Flynn Boyle, even by planning on going to what ever college she decides to attend. Sounds like a typical formula for a teen comedy, but instead of guys sneaking peeks at girls in the locker room and burnouts scoring weed, we're treated to a rather charming, breezy comedy about people instead of working a film around breasts, drugs, and the latest favorite band.

Cory Parker, Anthony Edwards With Hair, Lara Flynn Boyle, and even supporing players like Nora Dunn and Phil Hartman all do a great job with the light material and with Holland's clever wit, it all adds up to a good time. Sure brought back memories of my adventure into selecting a college.

It's really unfair to pick apart this film. It is what it is, light and fun. When there are so many raunchy flicks like Fast Times At Ridgemont high to ad nauseum, it's refreshing to see a film like How I Got Into College to just kick back, watch, and have a smile. No harm in that!

Sweet character driven with silliness most of the way through! The jokes were well placed and everything else is genuinely pleasant; classic comedy before they got raunchy/dirty nowadays.

Corey Parker delivers an affable performance as Marlon Browne, a generally uninspiring high school student. He is, however, highly motivated to apply to Ramsey College, since the high-achiever dream girl (Lara Flynn Boyle) whom he adores has her heart set on the place. He then gets caught up in the various machinations of the entire cutthroat college-recruitment business.

Although a step down from his previous classic 80s comedies, this effort from "Savage" Steve Holland ("Better Off Dead", "One Crazy Summer") gets by on some goodwill, and some very good moments. It may not be particularly inspired itself (at least, not enough to generate any true belly laughs), but it handles its satiric elements pretty well. All in all, it's entertaining enough to watch, and benefits from its very likeable cast.

Boyle is endearing, especially when her self-esteem takes a real hit. Top-billed Anthony Edwards does typically engaging work as an admissions officer at Ramsey. The supporting cast is packed to the brim with familiar faces: Phil Hartman and Nora Dunn (as shady tutors), Brian Doyle-Murray, Philip Baker Hall, Richard Jenkins, Charles Rocket, Christopher Rydell, Finn Carter, Bill Raymond, Bill Henderson, Robert Ridgely, etc. Fans of Hollands' previous movies will note the cameos by Taylor Negron, Diane Franklin, Curtis Armstrong, and Dan Schneider. Particularly funny are Bruce Wagner and Tom Kenny as A and B, the guys in Marlons' frequent math problem fantasies.

Pleasant overall, and reasonably funny, but no ball of fire.

Six out of 10.

I happened to catch this movie recently, after not having seen it since 1990, when I was trying to get into college.

I certainly would never have called this movie "fresh" either then or now. As others have pointed-out, this movie can lag at times, and the general feel of the movie does little to distinguish itself from other 80s "teen" movies. In other words, I feel that the overall story is overshadowed by the satiric and humorous elements of the movie, which really is quite original and does make it worth watching.

If you've been through the process and pressure as a teenager of the college application process, you'll likely find this movie entertaining enough to watch during some free time. I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to rent it, unless you happen to be trying to get into college or know someone who is.

5/10

Corey Parker, who has a lot of screen charisma by the way, plays Marlon and he's in love with Jessica, played by Lara Flynn Boyle, when you could still see her if she stood sideways. Marlon is so in love that he's decided to go to the college of Jessica's choice, Ramsey College. Anthony Edwards is Kip, who recruits for Ramsey and admits to Marlon that he's heard of worse reasons for wanting to go to a specific college, so Marlon and his friend Oliver (played by Christopher Rydell, son of director Mark Rydell, and if he looks familiar, it may be because you remember him making the wisecrack 'I didn't know they had gas back then' to Henry Fonda in "On Golden Pond") go to Ramsey to check it out. Various other students attend, the most interesting of which is Vera, a feisty girl working at Mickey D's who has college aspirations but whose mother is wary of her daughter ending up disappointed.

Comedy is hit and miss. Sometimes brilliant, sometimes flat. Tons of cameos (Curtis Armstrong, Taylor Negron, Bob Eubanks (!) and Brian-Doyle Murray) are enjoyable. Coming in at a svelte 88 minutes, you've done a lot worse. 7/10.