Admission

i actually do think that the film was more of a drama than a comedy. it was surely not the type of the film i expected before i watched it. Since it had Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, i surely expected the film to be either similar to Date Night or This is 40. But the film was quite different from those two in a good way. it was such a joy to see both of Fey and Rudd acting in a more drama- like comedy without all of the exaggerating acting. Although for me it did seem that Tina Fey's performance was a bit constrained it was still quite nice to see her portray a role which was just a normal person which we encounter every day around us. Paul Rudd also gave a quite lovely and warm performance in portraying his character. The film was not a crazy comedy full of jokes, but rather it was a decent more drama-like film which encouraged people to start taking responsibility for what they do and have done.

The amusing Admission is the first successful comedy of the year and a reasonable look at the admission process for an elite college--Princeton. Tina Fey as Portia and Paul Rudd as John turn in pleasant performances as an admissions executive and a progressive school teacher respectively. Rudd is amiable here and usually successful in his film career, while Fey's efforts up to now have been mediocre (Date Night, Baby Mama).

As an Alumni Admissions interviewer for over 30 years at Georgetown University, I find much of the story ringing true from the overachieving candidates nurtured by ambitious parents to the underachieving but brilliant and risky individualists. Portia must struggle with the boxed-in role of continuing the Princeton tradition (read stereotypes) or breaking away to push for a student who calls himself an "autodidact" with low grades but perfect scores on achievement tests for courses he never took.

Amid the plot's fierce applicant battle for a slot, Portia and John dance to the usual romantic formula of disliking each other to . . . Well, you know the drill. However, it's their reactions to the admission process that provide the authentic tension as he has developed students with independent minds, and she is used to the cookie-cutter candidates who lack the passion of those independents.

Director Paul Weitz knows something about family dynamics and children with his About a Boy, In Good Company, and Little Fockers among the more obvious examples. Signing up Lily Tomlin to play Portia's feminist mom was inspired; like the ubiquitous aging Alan Arkin, Tomlin should now have plenty of work.

Admission requires no small amount of sympathy for the messy business of growing up and getting ahead—Weitz navigates the vagaries of family ambition well. If the double-meaning of the title seems too precious to you, don't worry, the rest of the story is almost unambiguous.

Although Admission is mostly about applicants to an upper-tier college, it also poses the unethical means some might employ to gain entrance. Even Portia is not blameless, a touch I found in the film's favor while it deals with the unreal segment of our population smart enough to be considered for admission.

Admission will make any Tina Fey fan very happy. She's at her best, displaying her very unique style of comedy so well, that you'd think she wrote the script. Paul Rudd might not be at his greatest but he definitively plays his role well. Wallace Shawn is excellent as the dean of admission with just the right tone. Lily Tomlin is also very good, as a very unique mother.

Nice humor, nice pace, good ideas, and just a little silly.

The main drawback is that at time, it feels a bit light. Some of the plot items could have been delved a little more to get a better perspective.

Overall, it's nice entertainment.

Admission (2013)

The title is built around a pun which is the turning point of the movie—an admission, or at least a revelation, about a long lost child. The leading woman is the wonderful Tina Fey who I wish I could say was wonderful here. She plays an admissions official at Princeton, and lots of Ivy League clichés and would-be jokes parade by.

And that's the overview—a pre-packaged kind of routine film, not very imaginative to start with and never pushed or pulled the way a comedy, or a romance—or both!—ought to be.

Fey, it seems, wants to be a serious romantic leading actress, and she's chipper and cute and she could, with a much better script, pull off a kind of sympathetic Meg Ryan type. That's at least what I smell here. Her romantic partner, the sometimes very funny Paul Rudd, is again weighted down by having little to really make funny.

I'm not sure how a director like Paul Weitz keeps getting work. He has a whole series of disappointing movies, even a hand-me-down like "The Little Fokkers," and I'm sure some have made some money, but they would have been better (and made even more money) in better hands. The proof is in all this pudding.

On the surface you might think there are funny paths to take in "Admission," and maybe even some hilarious pratfalls (Fey's mom is more happily over the top and has some moments), but it's just a mildly enjoyable fizzle all the way. You won't walk away angry, just a little flat.

I was really surprised at the review ratings for this movie.At first I considered not watching it because of the average rating, but when flipping through it it appeared like a movie to consider watching, after all some ratings, for me, have been way off. I am not into really bad slap stick comedy or bad acting, or in mediocre been done before scripts. I began watching the movie and almost regretted it, after a slow start, and after a few over acted comedy parts, but upon finishing it, I was glad I stuck it out. The overly comic parts were far and few between, and turned out to be a little of the comic relief that balanced the emotional and some what unique script. The acting by Tina,Ben,Paul,and Travaris was actually good (they gave Tina a bit much of the overly comic parts, but what can you do). Overall, I was impressed with the movie and its "differentness".

I would recommend this movie to those who aren't overly critical on every detail and aspect of a movie, to those who like sensitive movies that overcome pasts and trials and fight for people and ideals, and to those who can weigh the value of people who are not perfect or who do things perfectly, but who change and grow and fight to do better.