College is a 2008 comedy film starring Drake Bell, Andrew Caldwell, and Kevin Covais and directed by first-time director Deb Hagan. It was released on August 29, 2008 by MGM. The story follows three high school seniors, who spend the weekend visiting Fieldmont University for freshman orientation, and get involved in various antics. The film garnered generally negative reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb, grossing $6 million worldwide against its $7 million budget.
Plot
After Kevin, a high school senior, gets dumped by his girlfriend Gina for being too boring, he does not want togo to the freshman orientation weekend at Fieldmont University, where they had planned to go together. But his best friends Carter and Morris convince him that the weekend away will help get his mind off her and hearing stories from their friend Fletcher who told them about his college weekend visiting his brother and got laid by three college chicks at once. That convinced Kevin to go to Fieldmont for the freshmen orientation to prove to his ex-girlfriend that he can be fun too and instead of boring. Once they are there, one of the rowdiest fraternities and sororities on campus pretends to recruit them as pledges in return for granting them access to the college party scene. Though forced to put up with the disgusting antics of fraternity brothers Teague, Bearcat, and Cooper, the guys meet sorority girls Kendall, Heather, and Amy, and sparks fly. But once Teague feels threatened by Kevin's new relationship with Kendall who once dated Teague, he takes the pre-frosh humiliation to a greater level and make their lives miserable and start bullying them out of their college. They have no choice, forcing the guys to decide to fight back and payback for ruining their weekend and ruining Morris college scholarship here and Kevin's chance go to school here. During the climax, Teague is arrested, Bearcat is superglued to a toilet, and Cooper is ducktaped to a statue naked. In the end back at their high school, Gina, who saw a video sent to her by Kevin having fun at a party at Fieldmont, asks to get back together with her, but he refuses.
College was heavily panned by critics. Review aggregateRotten Tomatoes holds the film at a 5% rating, based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 2.47/10. The site's consensus reads: "A pale imitation of the raunchy frat comedies of old, College aims low and misses." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 15 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times criticized the "grab-bag script" for emphasizing vulgar humor and bad taste over "wit, charm and originality", calling it "a tedious, by-the-numbers raunch-fest that exists strictly because it can." Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle found the film "so persistently loud and annoying that it single-handedly makes the case for drugging yourself with a roofie, Nembutal, and GHB cocktail prior to entering the theatre." Entertainment Weeklys Owen Gleiberman rated the movie with a "C−" grade, saying "Friendly yet toothless, College musters little energy even as anarchic-party-movie nostalgia." Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club gave it a "D−" rating, saying "t's a joyless misfire determined to deliver the time-tested staples of the college comedy in the most perfunctory, least satisfying manner imaginable."
Box office
The film was released on August 29, 2008 in 2,123 theaters. It made US$2.6 million over the Labor Day weekend. The film has grossed an estimated $4.7 million in the U.S. and Canada and $1.6 million in other territories for a total gross of $6.3 million worldwide.
DVD release
The film was released on Region 1 DVD on January 27, 2009. The DVD includes both the Theatrical and Unrated versions of the film as well as a Gag Reel.
