Product Details

• Actors: Marlon Brando, Matthew Broderick, Bruno Kirby, Penelope Ann Miller, Frank Whaley
• Directors: Andrew Bergman
• Writers: Andrew Bergman
• Producers: Mike Lobell
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: June 22, 1994
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 080010255X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #247,698 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Young Clark Kellog (Matthew Broderick) had no idea film school would drop him into the hands of a real-life Godfather, but after a street punk robs him his first day in New York City, that's just where the road leads. Marlon Brando let everyone know he was in on the joke with his hammy, good-humored performance as the bulldog-jowled Mafioso Carmine Sabatini, the man Clark's prissy, self-important professor swears was the real life inspiration of Don Corleone. Carmine has a modest proposal for the naive kid from Vermont involving Carmine's gorgeous daughter Tina (Penelope Ann Miller) and the illegal importing of an endangered lizard. Andrew Bergman's tongue-in-cheek comedy keeps the spoofing in a low key, underplaying the outrageous situations even as he piles them higher: if the sight of a six-foot-long lizard scattering shoppers as it runs wild through a New York City mall doesn't do it for you, there's always Bert Parks's rousing rendition of Bob Dylan's "Maggie's Farm." --Sean Axmaker

From The New Yorker

This comedy, written and directed by Andrew Bergman, wears its zaniness on its sleeve. The hero, Clark (Matthew Broderick), is a quiet young man from Vermont who has just entered the N.Y.U. film school. Within a few days of arriving in New York, he's making deliveries for an "importer" named Carmine Sabatini (Marlon Brando) and being treated like a member of Sabatini's family (or Family): Carmine's daughter (Penelope Ann Miller) has told her father that she wants to marry Clark, and the old man embraces him, with alarming enthusiasm, as "the son I never had." The movie is overinsistent and very erratic. When Bergman's jokes are good, they're sensational; when they're not so good, he repeats them again and again, as if they'd become funnier through familiarity. In this picture he has actors who play his sort of material to perfection. Miller and Bruno Kirby, as Carmine's fast-talking weaselly nephew, are hilariously unfazed by the family's criminal activities, and Broderick calibrates his reactions with remarkable comic dexterity. And Brando seems to be in a bizarre and wonderful world of his own. People in the movie keep staring at him and commenting on his resemblance to Don Corleone, and he plays along, parodying himself marvellously. In his scenes the movie seems less frantic; its lunacy takes on an air of serenity-a deeper, more inexplicable, and much funnier weirdness. Also with Paul Benedict, Maximilian Schell, B. D. Wong, and Bert Parks (belting out "Tequila" and Dylan's sardonic "Maggie's Farm" at a formal dinner). -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful movie, often overlooked., October 28, 2003

By 

Gary M. Greenbaum (Fairfax, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Freshman (DVD)

Young Clark Kellogg (Matthew Broderick) comes to New York, and within minutes, is robbed of most of his possessions. Even though he finds the robber, he is still short on cash (NYU Film School's required books aren't cheap) and is receptive to the idea of a job as an errand boy. He is stunned to meet his boss, Carmine Sabatini (Marlon Brando), who happens to look and sound like Don Vito Corleone. Clark soon finds himself tangled with Sabatini's Mafia-like affairs, not to mention his daughter, but mixed with that is a genuine liking and respect for the pseudo-Don. But with danger threatening from the Feds and a mob from South Amboy, is there a way out for both of them?

A delight of humor, as both Broderick and Brando excel. Look for a tour de force by Maximillian Schnell as the mysterious Larry London.

Lots of in-jokes here, from the portrayal of NYU Film School to Sabatini telling Kellogg that he knows a few people in Hollywood! The final scenes leave you laughing (Bert Parks hailing a Komodo Dragon with a Miss America parody, the very Germanic London being given intro music of a few notes of "Deutchland Uber Alles" and "The Ride of the Valkyies", Sabatini addressing said Komodo Dragon with "You cudda been a handbag" (recalling the backseat scene from "On the Waterfront"). The movie never takes itself too seriously.

One wishes that, given the capabilities of the DVD, that more material would be given the viewer. Unfortunately, we are left with the theatrical trailer and not much more. Disappointing.

The liner notes do disclose that the role of Sabatini was not actually written for Brando, and that the Komodo Dragon was played by a number of similar-looking giant monitors.

Still, one of the finest comedy movies of the late '80s. You won't regret it.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An offbeat gem, March 5, 2002

By 

DJ McGovern "Derek McGovern" (Busan, South Korea) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Freshman [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Although I enjoyed this spoof of The Godfather (and other genres) on first viewing, I didn't fully appreciate its offbeat charm and cleverness. A second viewing a few years later brought home to me just how original and endearing The Freshman really is. Sadly overlooked on its release, this is a movie that works on many levels. Its outrageous plot manages to combine parody, Hitchcockian twists, sparkling dialogue and, at times, touching scenes of affection, in one superbly balanced package. Its achievement is all the more astonishing when one recalls that this was the directorial debut of its talented writer/director, Andrew Bergman.

The cast is brilliant. Seasoned pros such as Bruno Kirby and Maximilian Schell (the latter enjoying himself immensely as the gaily enigmatic Larry London) lend wonderful support to the two leads, Matthew Broderick and Marlon Brando. Broderick is ideally cast as the young college student embroiled in the affairs of the Sabatini "clan", while Brando gives one of his most likeable performances as the ageing "don" who bears more than a passing resemblance to you-know-who. On paper at least, the very notion of Brando sending up his most famous role must have seemed a risky move, but the great Marlon effortlessly avoids any opportunities for tastelessness. If anything, he enhanced my enjoyment of his original Don Corleone, simultaneously parodying and paying tribute to his greatest creation, and no movie buff would want to miss this cinematic reincarnation. Furthermore, Broderick and Brando enjoy a wonderful on-screen chemistry, and I was both touched and amused by their rapport.

Also deserving of mention is Paul Benedict as Arthur Fleeber, the slimey professor of film studies whom Broderick encounters. Benedict hilariously sends up the loathsome pretentiousness of such types, and the scene in which he receives his comeuppance is deliciously handled.

In short, The Freshman is a joy from start to finish, and repeated viewings will only enhance your enjoyment of this daring little gem.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious love song to gangster movies, comedy, and plot, March 18, 2002

By 

Frank Lynch "frank_lynch" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Freshman (DVD)

This is a wonderful movie to have in your collection, because your appreciation and enjoyment will be immediate, and continue to grow over time. It combines swift dialog, hilarious performances, well done running gags, and a great street-level view of New York. The humorous parodies are obvious and rich, and yet it's wonderful to see Broderick's character try and act as if he's not -really- going through what he's going through - - his efforts to remain aloof to the farce he's embroiled in are truly wonderful. Performances from all other members of the cast are equally excellent. Not just Brando, but also Bruno Kirby; Kirby has really done something fantastic in this movie, and I've never seen him better. And Bert Parks!! Oh, my, who could have expected Bert Parks to do what he did!! Miss this one at your own risk.