Justin Long in Accepted: Not Perfect But Fun and Funny
Just when Bartlebey Gaines felt like his life couldn’t get any worse, the college he wanted to go to rejected him. On a mission to keep this fact from his parents, Bartlebey asked his friend, Sherman (Jonah Hill) to accept him in a realistic but otherwise completely fake college. Called the South Harmon Institute of Technology, his parents believe the story and congraduate him. From here, things only get more hectic, and Bartlebey only ends up having to find a place in which to base this fake school.
He and all of his friends, including Glen (Adam Hershman), Hands (Columbus Short), and Rory (Maria Thayer) find an old and abandoned mental institution. In a series of funny and not-so-funny scenes the group gets aquainted with the building, and all of the strange things it has to offer. Then Bartlebey finds out just how real his situation is.
While Sherman is pledging for a prominent fraternity, the website he created for the South Harmon Institute of Technology is actually so real it drives people to sign up to join. With that, Bartlebey and his group of misfits are soon in over their heads. He opens the door of their fake school to a huge group of “accepted” students.
Then in trying to justify his reasons for continuing the charade, Bartlebey starts classes and tries to make the South Harmon Institute of Technology actually legitimate. Soon, he reaches the understanding that this idea was not only brilliant way to fool his parents, but Bartlebey discovers that its actually a brilliant idea all around.
Accepted, directed by first-time-director Steve Pink (best known as that Terry Rostand character in Grosse Point Blank) is a brilliant exploration into the fun and the overall value of college. It’s not a perfect film. Too many childish jokes, Animal-House-esque adventures and its cardboard parent characters just makes this film all the less believable. But, if you go to see Accepted with an open mind, you can’t help but be taken in by the concept, the story, and the film’s overall appeal.
