Customer Reviews

Stealing Harvard

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Summary:
John Plummer (Jason Lee (I)) lives a kind of doldrum life as an assistant manager of a home medical supply store. He's dating the owner's (Dennis Farina) daughter, Elaine Warner (Leslie Mann), and they are planning on getting married. They had decided to wait to get married until they had saved up enough to put a down payment on a house. The movie begins with them realizing that they have finally saved up enough money. There's just one problem, John promised his niece, Noreen Plummer (Tammy Blanchard), that if she got in to college he would pay for it. Well, she got into Harvard and now she needs the money - the exact amount that he had saved up. John is stuck with a decision but can't take away his wife's dreams, so he turns to an old friend to help him come up with the money, Walter 'Duff' Duffy (Tom Green (III)). Duff comes up with several illegal plans for getting the money, each getting them further into trouble with the law. Eventually all of the plans catch up to them and they have to deal with the chaos they have been causing and they still don't have the money.

My Comments:
The movie was occasionally funny, but only occasionally. The plot was pretty good and the story wasn't terrible, but it wasn't really memorable. The major problem with the movie was that it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn't. Jason Lee tries, and some of the situations are a bit humorous - specifically the repeated instances of the main characters having to dress up as women for the Honorable Emmett Cook (Richard Jenkins (I)) - but the best it does is get an occasional chuckle.

This movie seemed to receive a lot of hype, and, frankly, I thought it was going to be more about actually going to college. But college and college life really have very little to do with it.

Overall, this movie didn't live up to the hype it received. It may be kind of funny if you're really bored and need something to do on a Friday night with friends. Otherwise, not worth your time.

I knew Stealing Harvard would be really funny just because I had a gut feeling.It's something that you can't really explain.Jason Lee who is a great actor was hilarious and Tom Green-well Tom Green is a little weird.I never liked Tom Green but he just has a really funny voice making the humor he tries to make funny just the way he talks and acts...Stealing Harvard could possibly be one of the funniest movies that have ever been made.

The supporting cast makes a big difference.Dennis Farina is very funny...In this movie he steals the show.Seymour Cassel was also very funny.I have only seen him in The Royal Tenenbaums but this was anthor good role that he played.Leslie Mann from George of the Jungle also portrayed her character well.And last Megan Mullony from Will and Grace had to be another one of the funniest cast members in the movie.

The movie is about John Plummer who lives with his girlfriend Elaine Warner and works for her father Mr Warner.When Elaine tells John that they finally rasied enough money to buy there dream house they prepare for there wedding.When John goes to his sister Patty's house he learns that his neice Noreen got accepted into Harvard and Patty reminds John of the promise he made to his neice that if she ever got into college he would pay for it.The problem is...the tution is around 30,000 which is the amount of money John and Elaine saved up to buy there house.John then turns to the master planner....Walter "Duff" Duffy to come up with a plan.Duff tells John that crimials make money and they decide to plan a theft of a grocery store.

...The movie is very funny and just has that charm to it that most movies can't give out.Go see Stealing Harvard today!

ENJOY!

I rate a comedy by how many times it makes me laugh. Stealing Harvard didn't make me laugh at all. I like the other movies with Jason Lee and Tom Green, so I was very disapointed by the lack of humor in this flick. Keep in mind that I'm not very picky, I even enjoyed Freddy Got Fingered. I don't even demand a coherant story plot, I just want to laugh. This movie has absolutely no comedy value.

OK, I know Tom Green has a crazy sense of humor, but this film was just stupid! It wasn't even about Harvard! Sure it was about trying to seal money to pay for Harvard, but it was mostly about how two stupid guys can't get anything to work. Should be titled, "How Two Stupid Guys Couldn't Steal Harvard" or something to that effect. The comedy was relly raw, and the levels which they had to go to to try and get you to laugh were quite low. This film truly left me feeling dumber after watching it. Don't waste your time!

I bought this movie without ever seeing it because based on the trailer it looked hilarious. At the time Tom Green was the `it' comedian; his MTV show being huge and his high profile persona taking off (he married the amazingly talented and beautiful Drew Barrymore), so it was obvious that his named attached to a comedy would bring in a decent crowd. Sadly, `Stealing Harvard' wastes the talent he does have. Green possesses a very distinct kind of comedic talent that needs to be channeled properly to really work, and while he does have the funniest scenes in the film, he never really finds his footing here.

The story is farfetched. John Plummer hates his job and his fiancés father, whom he happens to work for. He and his fiancé have been saving their money in order to put a down payment on a house and get married and they finally have enough; $30,000. It just so happens that John promised his niece that he would pay for her schooling if she went to college and she just got accepted to Harvard; she just needs $30,000. Jon doesn't want to disappoint his fiancé so he gets his idiot friend Duff to help him try and steal the money.

This of course leads to attempts at humor that often miss the mark.

Jason Lee is not my favorite actor. I just have yet to really see him do something I enjoy. I actually liked `Alvin and the Chipmunks' but that's another story. Dennis Farina is pathetic here, as is Leslie Mann, who has some preposterous character development. John C. McGinley is decent, but then again he is always the same. Megan Mullally is funny, but underused. I actually think the funniest supporting performance belongs to Martin Starr who plays the clerk at the liquor store John and Duff try and rob (probably the funniest scene in the film). Tom Green delivers his lines well and serves up some humor, but like I mentioned, the film wastes him.

In the end I can't say that this is a film I'll watch regularly. I've owned it for six years now and I've seen it twice (when I first bought it and then last night) and I don't plan on popping it back in the DVD tray for another six years or so. There are just much better comedies to look to for a laugh; so why waste my time with a merely serviceable one?

Okay, sure, it was just a normal teenish comedy the first time I saw it in the theatures... wasn't too funny, but was entertaining. Then I got it as a gift. W O W ! Every time I watch it, it gets funnier and way more entertaining then the first. It's a blast reciting the lines along with Tom Green and most of the time I end up laughing before the funny part even happens because I remember how great it is! "I need my cheese John.", "I'm not liquid John, I'm not liquid." What a classic movie. You can't get much better from Green then: "All right American cattle. Nobody does anything stupid and you can all go home to your precious tv dinners." Or how about my personal favorite: "Okay. I see what's going on here. You think you're mister real estate. Well that's just great. Let me ask you this - do you have kids? Good. Oh, three of them. Well, that's even better, because I want there to be an audience when I come over there, take you out into the street and beat the livin' bejesus outta ya'. (slams down phone repeatedly)" Not only does this movie have dozens of excellent laughs, it has amazing music in it. Such as the end song "Nothing Frequency" by Autopilot Off. I also remember a great song, "Party Hard" by Andrew W.K. and a Barenaked Ladies song, just off the top of my head. I swear, you'll love it more and more as months pass, trust me... "Oooooooooh yeah........come to Steve"

This movie is hilarious. Jon Plummer (Jason Lee) made a promise to his niece when she became eliminated from an elementary school spelling bee that he'd pay her way to college. Unfortunately, he told her that to make her feel better, so now that his niece is all grown up, and he promised to pay for her tuition, he has to figure out a way to get $30,000.

To be honest, Tom Green's character "Duff" had me laughing all throughout the movie. Yes, you read correctly. Tom Green is funny in this movie. I know, I know. He's an acquired taste, but in this movie, he's actually watchable (I've always thought he was somewhat watchable, and yes, I have seen "Freddy Got Fingered" twice -- out of boredom, of course). I recommend this to Tom Green or Jason Lee fans!

This is a very funny movie. If your a fan of Tom Green you'll like this movie. It's full of laughs from beginning to end. The name of Tom Green's hedge cutting company is cool. Its called "Landscape Escape". I recommend this movie if your a fan of comedy. You won't stop laughing.

Would have been WAY better film if they had given Tom Green's character more time but still manages to provide a good laugh on the spray painted holdup scene.

I haven't seen many performances by Jason Lee or Tom Green, so what I saw here seemed okay. Two friends carry out a string of unsuccessful robberies in order to find the money to pay for John's niece's Harvard fees. Now Stealing Harvard wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. However, it did constitute several good chuckles AND I thought it was an overall entertaining, good show (with a few scenes they REALLY could have done without). Therefore, Stealing Harvard really WASN'T a waste of time. However, it IS a waste of six bucks. Wait for it to come out on video.

P.S. Don't make the same mistake I made. If you're going to watch the movie, I hear there are some pretty funny outtakes at the end. I, of course, didn't see them.