How I Got Into College

Good light entertainment that never quite passed into the mainstream, despite featuring several performers who later became better-known: Anthony Edwards before he lost his hair and became a famous TV doc, Corey Parker before he became a caricature of himself, and Lara Flynn Boyle before she became a skeleton. A lightweight and quirky farce about the college admissions process, this bit of fluff also has a really nice heart, plus fun performances by Finn Carter as Edwards's true love and Chris Rydell as Parker's ultracool best friend.

Director / writer Savage Steve Holland had churned out some influential 80s teen classics such as the John Cusack starring "Better off Dead" and "One Crazy Sumer". Getting into college or simply choosing what to do after high school is the stepping stone in to the big world. It's a life decision that points you in the direction. Stress… confusion… indecision. Holland beautifully captures this in his third entry (which I never even heard of until now) of this type of teen fodder; "How I got Into College". It might not hold up to his previous efforts, however it's an enjoyably breezy and light-headed finding your feet fable namely sold by its welcomely fresh and sound performances by leads Corey Parker, (a delightfully freckle-faced) Lara Flynn Boyle and Anthony Edwards. Also the support; Finn Carter, Bill Raymond, Philip Baker Hall, Charles Rocket, Tichina Arnold and Christopher Rydell are notably good too.

We follow that of Marlon who has his eyes set on the highly respected, top of the class Jessica, but he has never been game enough to confront her. However he sees college the chance to do so. He decides to aim for the same campus she's applying too, but it's not going to be any easy walk through the park.

Maybe I didn't find the characters and interactions as memorable and comical as in Holland's earlier films, but there's no doubts that hanging off it is an amusingly witty and creatively inspired script that seems to have that oddball sense despite probably keeping it a tad more in check and favouring the romance sub-plot. It's quite forward and slight but never lets the stereotypical inclusions take over; in doing so it gave it a more random air and warm feeling within its grounded framework. Also there are some amusingly bright cameo roles by Phil Hartman, Nora Dunn, Diane Franklin, Taylor Negron, (playboy model) Rebecca Ferratti and Curtis Armstrong.

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!

There are a couple of great ideas in this movie. One is its ingenious approach to math problems. The other is a scene in which Jessica, while waiting for her college interview, is forced into the realization that she is considerably less unique than she thought.

The result is a movie with pockets of hilarity broken up by long stretches of vague amusement. This is, for the most part, a cookie-cutter teen comedy that often doesn't even seem to be trying. The premise and every vagary of the plot is stupid and poorly conceived, the lead actors, except for Boyle, give broad, forgettable performances, and one imagines the movie was written in an afternoon on a gum wrapper. It does have a few good moments, but it's not really worth bothering with.

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.