PCU

This is a near great movie that perfectly captures a time and place where AIDS was at the forefront of everybody's minds, grunge had revolutionized society overnight, feminism was taking it's place on campuses. Political correctness was growing and segregating campuses. There was a resurgence in pot use and a new love affair with hippie culture. In many ways this film predicted a lot of what would eventually happen to campuses and society 25 years later. It's scary to think it's been 25 years already.

The star of the show is Jeremy Piven. David Spade is also good and this is one of Favreau's earliest roles. There are some great witty lines here. Those of a different generation may not get it though I think a lot of today's younger generation will be able to relate.

2024 UPDATE: 5 years after my first review on this and 30 years after its release, this move is more relevant than ever.

Perhaps one of the greatest college comedy films ever created. Bringing in the Nineties Politically Correct atmosphere, PCU delivers a humorous portrayal of college life amongst all the angst of the down-trodden minority groups. Comedic actor Jeremy Piven as 'Droz' leads a great cast including an early appearance by a then-chunky Jon Favreau (star of Swingers) as 'Gutter'. The downtrodden members of 'the Pit' (an unconventional fraternity), must battle against the minority groups at Port Chester University in order to thwart the 'preppies' attempts to take over 'the Pit'.

One of the best attempts at recreating the legendary iconography that is Animal House. This movie is full of quotable quotes and less than known actors at the time. Check it out if only for Jeremy Piven, Jon Favreau and Jake Busey in an amusing cameo as a stoner/ultimate Frisbee player. Favreau and Piven's interaction recalls old comedy schtick but in a very endearing way. The appearance of George Clinton makes the movie worth watching if only for the party scene. And if you didn't already think the soundtrack to hell was going to be Starland Vocal Band here in lies a scene to convince you otherwise. David Spade should not be overlooked in his role as a preppy frat boy wanna-be and his rant about all of the PC sects at the end of the movie is completely priceless. This movie though much overlooked is a cult classic and should be well recognized in the pantheon of college themed flicks.

I'm really glad this movie was able to find its audience on video, because it deserves recognition. This is a damn good film! The unfortunate thing about a movie like "PCU" is that the "Animal House" comparisons are inevitable. But there's no point in comparing. "PCU" stands on its own two feet. "Animal House" is one take on college fraternities and "PCU" is another. It's like comparing "The Naked Gun" to "In the Heat of the Night," because they're both about cops. The characters and plot in this movie are in no way derivative of "Animal House." Jeremy Piven was a great choice for the lead. I've always been a fan of his, but he always gets stuck with supporting roles. In this case, he proves that he has the confidence to carry a lead role. His laid-back sense of humor makes the jokes all-the-more hilarious. I'm often more appreciative of comic actors who don't try to hammer a joke to death with mugging and wacky inflections. Piven delivers a joke the way it's supposed to be delivered--in a straight fashion. We don't see enough of that nowadays. And I can say the same about most of the actors in the film, with maybe the exception of David Spade. He's the type of actor, who can either be sarcastically funny or sarcastically annoying. He doesn't exactly provide the film's funniest moments, but he plays a moderately small role and doesn't get much of a chance to do any annoying shtick.

In the DVD commentary, Jeremy Piven mentioned that the actors weren't allowed to improvise, and he was very disapproving of director Hart Bochner's choice to follow the script verbatim. Luckily, that didn't exactly hurt the film, since the actors were working with a solid script. The point is the movie doesn't look scripted. Whether or not they actually were, the actors seemed comfortable with the material and delivered every gag with great precision. Besides, when you let actors improvise too much, that can also hurt a film. I liked the "Rush Hour" movies, but at times it's so evident that Chris Tucker was stepping out of character to make the audience laugh that there were parts where I was taken out of the movie. I certainly can't complain too much, because the comic style of "PCU" had a uniqueness to it that really stood out for me. After watching Hart Bochner's extremely broad spoof, "High School High," I wasn't exactly sure he had a knack for directing comedy. But in this case, he proved me wrong. The gags here are nowhere near as broad, and it helps that the actors don't act like they're in a comedy. Plus, there are very few cheap shots. Very few jokes about bodily functions of genitalia. In other words, the humor had a certain intelligence--something I DEFINITELY can't say about most comedies nowadays. This is not one of those comedies aimed at a teen to young adult audience, where you're allowed to have an I.Q. of 10. As you can tell from the memorable quotes section, there are plenty of great lines. "You're gonna wear the T-shirt of the band you're gonna go see? Don't be that guy." By the way, that's the only line Jeremy was allowed to improvise, for all you trivia buffs. The most memorable gag, in my opinion, is the one involving the sign language interpreter, who has to translate phrases like "butt pirate" and "pillow biter." No one can deny that gag was classic.

Another way cool thing about this movie: the gorgeous Megan Ward. I've never seen her look hotter. She has such a gorgeous girl-next-door look that when Chris Young's character got to kiss her, I felt his happiness. There's a great shot of her from behind, where she's wearing low-cut denim shorts. Very nice! So many elements of this movie just click. I loved the soundtrack too. The songs played over the opening and closing credits are both way cool, and plus you're treated to the great sounds of George Clinton during the film. It was an original idea to choose George Clinton, since you'd expect to see a hard rock or heavy metal band in a film of this sort. All in all, go see this overlooked gem of a movie! You won't be disappointed!

PCU is a hilarious college comedy starring Jeremy Piven. A pretty normal looking preppy dude goes to Port Chester University to decide if he wants to go there and ends up befriending the people who live at "The Pit", who are at odds with some of the PC groups on campus and a thorn in the side of the administration. Jeremy Piven is a great and charismatic lead and even if he is pushing 40, he still is going to college. PCU is not too far removed from Animal House or Revenge Of The Nerds, but updated for the 90's. It plays on stereotypes, but in a fun way and is very funny. David Spade appears as well as a swarmy, preppy, frat boy type, pretty much an all around weenie. George Clinton And The Parliament Funkadelic appear to play The Pit and for good tunes. So watch PCU and have a good time, or you can ..."blow me where the pampers is".