Admission

Admission, the latest film from Paul Weitz is both a funny romantic comedy with a serious profile. It possesses more heart than you would originally think. It's a well done movie with a very good cast, and it's a movie with little to no holes. Because of that I give Admission three and a half buckets of Killer Korn.




Admission is built on the kind of storyline that you wouldn't normally associate with a romantic comedy and yet, there it is. That being said, maybe Admission isn't a romantic comedy, maybe it's a serious film about passing judgement on people, parenting, guilt, and shameless ambition with a little humor sprinkled in. Sounds schizophrenic I know but roll with me and I will explain how it's not. The reason why this movie has a trailer that would lead anyone to believe that Admission is a romantic comedy is maybe because it stars Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, two very funny people in their own right. Tina plays Portia Nathan, an admissions officer at Princeton and Paul plays John Pressman, a teacher at Quest High School and believes he's stumbled across a secret from Portia's past.

Admission also stars Lily Tomlin as Portia's mother Susannah, Gloria Reuben as Corinne, Portia's biggest rival as she vies to become Dean of Admissions. The Dean is played by the hilarious Wallace Shawn, Travaris Spears plays Nelson, John's adopted son from Uganda and Nat Wolff plays Jeremiah, the secret from Portia's past. It's a great cast and they are all blessed with their own funny moments but this is the first so called romantic comedy where the comedy takes a back seat to some serious personal issues. Paul's character John feels he has located Portia's son, the one she gave up for adoption back in college and he thinks the two should meet. Jeremiah has written an essay about wanting to meet his biological mother and John, armed with a copy of Jeremiah's birth certificate, invites Portia up to his high school to see about meeting her son as well as recruit new possible students for Princeton.

What ensues from that visit are moments of hilarity, real heart, and surprising depth. Tine Fey gives her usual talented performance and the rest of the cast keeps up with her as best they could. There is no doubt who the star is here and be warned, if you are not a Tina Fey fan (which would lump you in the Sarah Palin club), you shouldn't see this movie because she's everywhere. Paul Rudd got second billing but that was done I guess because someone felt they had to do that, you know, for balance or something. Lily Tomlin looks like she got some work done because her face is completely different from when she was on The West Wing, but she definitely had her moments of both hilarity and heart. It seems everyone had those moments, when they come to realize that there is more to their lives than being selfish and fighting for their own happiness. That sometimes you have to do for someone else and it's not as painful as you may think.

This is a movie I would recommend seeing, especially if you need a laugh or a good story to sink your teeth into. Admission is worth the price of admission (see what I did there?). Check it out and I'll see you at the theater.