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"School for Scoundrels" tells the well worn story of a pushover who learns to become more assertive so that he can take charge of his life and finally get the girl. I didn't realize that the film was a remake but the fact that I found it hackneyed to begin with gives an idea of the level of originality we're dealing with here.

The cast contains a number of talented and funny individuals but they are unfortunately let down by the material. Looking at the cast list it's difficult to believe that the film is as mediocre as it is. The script just doesn't deliver the goods comedically and the story's too unoriginal to grab your attention. The technical aspect is no better than average either but I must admit that the soundtrack was pretty nifty.

In the end, I can only recommend this flick if you're absolutely starved for some comedy. There's little to be had here though those who don't mind clichéd stories may appreciate it more than I have.

This remake of the 1960 version with Terry Thomas and Ian Carmichael lacks the originality and real comedy that version provides. I highly recommend sticking to the 1960 movie.

Take a much superior English film from the 1950's Bo****** it up repackage it for the gullible American market, add bum and poo jokes with sub Benny Hill testicle crushing and there you have it you don't have to pay script writers just import the usual faces (or should that be Faeces) and hey whaddya know a film for the undemanding. There is no gentle demanding humour here no stars of the calibre of Simms or Terry Thomas. Please seek out the original do not pay to see this it only encourages them. At the end of the film it was like someone had crapped on the grave of an elderly beloved relative and walked away giggling. Please stop destroying our heritage find some of your own films to mess up. How about Gone With the Wind with Ben Stiller, Whoopie Goldberg and Angelina Jolie? You could replace the burning of Atlanta with a lot of bum jokes, hell, I'm patenting this idea. Anybody fancy giving me some financial backing?

Went to preview screening last night and was pleasantly amused for the first hour but then it just went downhill. Jon Heder's performance is pretty much flat, not bad in any way except that it does nothing to beyond what was on the page. This is typical of most of the cast who seem to be engaged in some sort of paint by numbers exercise. Even Billy Bob Thorton who is well cast as a drill instructor for losers loses steam. Todd Luiso, best known for the wimpy employee in High Fidelity is probably the only actor that manages to turn in something worthy of appreciation. There is an oneupmanship sequence reminiscent of "Rushmore" but only serves to make one wish they were watching that instead. Wait till it's in the video store and you have trouble agreeing what to rent and need something bland.

I was a bit let down by this movie. Hearing that Billy bob thorton and Jon Heder were in it, (aswell as sarah silverman) I was expecting to get some quality laughs out of this, but what I got was pretty weak. Not that movies like this have incredible stories or plots, but this one was pretty bad, and it moved at an awkward pace to me, that made it even more unbelievable than the genre usually is, As a fan of this sort of platform for a comedy, maybe I'm being to hard on it by other peoples standards, so I don't want to all out not recommend it, but Don't expect as many laughs as the other Billy bob thorton flicks like bad santa, it's light comedy. I usually tend to enjoy these comedies a few times over, but one viewing of this will be enough for me.

5/10