Taglines: All the fun of college, none of the education.
Mitch, Frank and Beanie are disillusioned with their personal lives begining when Mitch’s nymphomanic girlfriend, Heidi, cheats on him, then former party animal Frank gets married, but unwilling to get go of his wild life, and Beanie is a family man seeking to reclaim his wild and crazy youth. Beanie suggests that they form their own fraternity in Mitch’s new house on a college campus to re-live their glory days by bringing together a variety of misfit college students, losers, middle-aged and elderly retirees as their new friends and later try to avoid being evicted by the new Dean of Students, Pritchard, whom still holds a personal grudge against all three of them.
Old School is an American comedy film released by DreamWorks Pictures and The Montecito Picture Company and directed by Todd Phillips. The story was written by Court Crandall, and the film was written by Phillips and Scot Armstrong. The film stars Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and Will Ferrell as three depressed thirty-somethings who seek to re-live their college days by starting a fraternity, and the tribulations they encounter in doing so.
The film was filmed in and around La Crescenta, California. Filming locations included Palisades High School, UCLA, USC and Harvard University. The film is considered a forerunner to the Frat Pack since three of its stars are core members of that group.
Attorney Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson) breaks up with his girlfriend when he accidentally discovers that she takes part in orgies. Mitch encounters his high school crush, Nicole (Ellen Pompeo), at the wedding of his friend Frank (Will Ferrell) and makes an awkward impression. Later, he finds a house located near the campus of the fictional Harrison University in New York.
Mitch’s other friend Bernard (Vince Vaughn) throws a party at Mitch’s house, dubbed Mitch-A-Palooza, which is a huge success. Frank gets drunk at the party and is seen streaking by his wife, putting a strain on their new marriage. The trio run into an old acquaintance whom they used to ridicule at school: Gordon Pritchard (Jeremy Piven), who is now the College “Dean”. He informs them that they must vacate because Mitch’s house has been designated exclusively for campus housing. Bernard proposes starting a fraternity that is open to anyone to meet the Dean’s criteria of campus housing. The new fraternity carries out several hazing events throughout campus, attracting the attention of the Dean and other members of the faculty.
Nicole brings her boyfriend Mark to the party for one of Bernard’s children and Mitch walks in on him in the bathroom while he was hooking up with a girl from the catering firm. While initially discreet, Mitch is forced to recount the entire incident to Nicole when Mark tries to lie that the girl was with Mitch instead of himself. The oldest fraternity member, Blue, has a heart attack and collapses during a “KY lube wrestling” match with two good-looking college girls at his birthday celebration. At Blue’s funeral, Frank’s wife says she wants a divorce, forcing Frank to live with Mitch.
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Jeremy Piven, Ellen Pompeo, Juliette Lewis, Leah Remini, Elisha Cuthbert
Screenplay by: Todd Phillips, Scot Armstrong
Production Design by: Clark Hunter
Cinematography by: Mark Irwin
Film Editing by: Michael Jablow
Costume Design by: Nancy Fisher
Set Decoration by: Traci Kirshbaum
Music by: Theodore Shapiro
MPAA Rating: R for some strong sexual content, nudity and language.
Studio: DreamWorks Pictures
Release Date: February 21, 2003
