Admission

For those of you who are thinking that this film is a comedy, you would be wrong. It is more of a drama with some funny moments thrown in (although I never laughed out loud; not even once). As a matter of fact, by the time the film was over I was actually feeling a little sad. The story centers on an admissions officer for Princeton University, Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) who is responsible for combing through thousands of submission requests and evaluating who should be allowed to attend this prestigious school. On top of that, the current dean of admissions is retiring and Portia and her rival Corinne (Gloria Reuben) are both up for the job. Gearing up for her annual recruiting trip, Portia is contacted by John Pressman (Paul Rudd) to come and check out his somewhat fundamental and "earthy" school. Upon arrival John tells Portia that he thinks that one of the kids in his school is actually the child that she gave up for adoption when she was in college. Jeremiah (Nat Wolff) has been a slacker most of his life, but it turns out that he is a natural genius and was just bored in school most of the time. He gets very interested in attending Princeton and so the story begins. The film started out mildly comical, but as the story went along it became more and more serious. The two characters that did add a little light-heartedness to the film were Susannah (Lily Tomlin) who is Portia's mother and an eccentric soul. She is not much into relationships of any kind whether it is a mother/daughter or a romantic relationship. The other character that I really liked was Nelson (Travaris Meeks-Spear) who is John's adopted son who is just looking to be normal and to not go gallivanting around the globe all the time with his father. I think the cast as a whole did a really good job and the story was not boring, but I think that billing it as a comedy was the wrong way to go. The story was a lot more serious than I expected it to be, so I think that as word gets out, this film may not do as well as expected. It was not a bad film, but I am not sure that it is worth the price of a ticket. I am giving this film an amber light.

Admission is the latest Tina Fey vehicle and the end result turns out to be a charming and rather likable comedy. Granted, some parts are rather bland and contrived which you can thank the screenplay for, but the charming actors, subtle direction, and an interesting story is able to elevate this movie to be the charming movie it is.

Paul Weitz directs a film about an overworked Princeton admissions officer named Portia Nathan who on her recruitment trips, meets the highly intellectual Jeremiah takes to the help of an old college classmate named John. Against all odds, she decides to do what she can to get Jeremiah enrolled in Princeton despite his high school mediocrity.

As mentioned before, this film has very likable actors and the chemistry fluidly bounces off with each other. Tina Fey is great and she reminds me of her role as Liz in 30 Rock. Paul Rudd is the perfect man for her because of his charm and he was excellent. Nat Wolff as Jeremiah is very sweet and has come a long way since his Nickelodion series. Finally, I loved Lily Tomlin's character as Tina's mother because she was a hoot!

Overall, Admission was destined to be a so-so movie, but it wasn't so in my eyes. It's not a laugh-out-loud comedy but it's not meant to be despite a few moments when I chuckled. There is a fair amount of drama and romance here to be effective. It's a small movie, but I had a good time with it. I rate this film 8/10.

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.

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.

I love Tina Fey and Paul Rudd never gets old either (literally and metaphorically). The movie itself has quite a few flaws though. Never sure if it is a comedy or a drama. Walking that line was never going to be easy and it stumbles more than a few times. Tina and Paul do their best to keep it on tracks.

The kid actors are pretty decent, but don't have much to go through in their arks. Of course the movie is about lost love and about family in general. But even those things are not mixed in the right mixture. There is either too much of something or too little of another thing. A shame that the talent and the massive effort on Tinas part does not really get the movie it would deserve.