Todd Phillips directs Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson in this comedy about three thirty-something men who start their own frat house when one moves into a cheap property near campus. 

Old School shouldn’t work. Wilson’s obstensible lead has no agency or personality. The plot is the epitome of bog standard. Yet it allows Ferrell and Vaughn a showcase to do what they do best (naive havoc and motormouth nihilism respectively) without having to do any heavy lifting in terms of draggy exposition or character arcs. Any scene that just let’s them run with the ball is a joy to watch. Whether it be a bit of solo streaking, a gym competition won while still smoking or a children’s party involving a tranquilliser gun. These gems are scripted but it is the stars who sell them, adding the quirk and persuasiveness. Old School has enough moments like this that leave you in stitches so that you really don’t care about the uninspired guff that happens to join it all together.

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