Sorry, this movie sucks

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

If it had not been for the exceedingly unfunny sight gags and basic writing style, I'd immediately fault Bruce McCulloch's Stealing Harvard for being an assembly of charmless stupidity and its use of bland, undeveloped characters. Consistent readers know I've subjected myself to stupid comedies and have emerged from some of them with a good review in hand. Such films would be Bio-Dome, Encino Man, and more recently, 2010's remake of Death at a Funeral.However, there are requirements that I have in my head to be able to call a stupid movie a good one. For starters, a setup that's at least mildly intriguing. Second, one liners that are somewhat memorable. Finally, something that can differentiate it from a stupid movie in the crowd. Stealing Harvard only succeeds in having a somewhat interesting premise and one funny sequence, which involves shouting, repetition, and randomness - thinks I am known to have a disdain for.Our story begins with John (Jason Lee), a man who is this close to marrying his fiancée and buying a home. His plans get halted when his niece (Tammy Blanchard), who he has become increasingly close to due to her lack of a father figure, reveals that she has been accepted to Harvard, and pulls out a tape of her when she was little, after she failed a spelling bee. On the tape, her uncle John promises her that he will pay for her to go to school when the time comes, and, in present time, she tells them there is only one small chunk left to pay - a $29,000 chunk.Try to digest that plot point while I bring out another. John's best bud is "Duff" (Tom Green), a clueless, lazy dork who runs a third-rate landscaping business. He reveals to John that while clean and landscaping some rich stiff's home, that he has an open safe with a boatload of money that is simply collecting dust. The two half-wits decide to break in to the home and take the money, but when that idea fails, they concoct more, one of which is robbing a liquor store yuet becoming more preoccupied with who has what fake name rather than the actual operation.Jason Lee, an actor who we saw was completely capable of creating a character in Chasing Amy and Mallrats functions with sitcom shallowness here, and Tom Green, an actor whose wide range of performances hasn't allowed him to adopt much likability, is a text book idiotic Neanderthal here.And don't even get me started on the barrage of lackluster plot points and details the film includes, either. There's a little thing in comedies I call "too much information," where a running joke or setup is attempted to be created out of something rather disheartening or simply not funny. Certain "too much information" gags here are the details and the sequences showing John's fiancée (Leslie Mann) crying during sex and her oppressive relationship with her overprotective father. Such things do not belong in a comedy.Stealing Harvard greatly reminds me of a smarter, infinitely more nuanced comedy called Orange County, that came out the same year as this one in 2002. The film centered around Colin Hanks' character who desperately tries to get accepted to a college, but he finds that his dysfunctional family and chaotic mishaps are burdening roadblocks to this dream. Hanks' character had a screw-up brother, played by Jack Black, who acted much like Tom Green in this film. Hanks' character also reminded me of the niece character here, played by Tammy Blanchard, as someone clearly ambitious but limited. Why was Orange County a three star comedy and this one a one and a half star comedy? Because Orange County chose wisely and took the challenge, focusing on the struggling soul at the core of the story. Not the imbeciles limiting them.Starring: Jason Lee, Tom Green, Leslie Mann, and Tammy Blanchard. Directed by: Bruce McCulloch.

I see here the seeds to 'My Name is Earl'. I've watched whatever Jason Lee flicks I can find. 'John' in this flick is closest to the Earl character in the TV series. IMHO, f you like 'Earl' you'll enjoy this.Erstwhile John makes an innocent promise to his niece to comfort her from early elimination from an 8th grade spelling bee. Ten years later, that promise comes back to bite him. He is the father figure for this niece, who in spite of her 'white trailer trash' mother and upbringing, has managed to get herself accepted at Harvard.He also made a commitment to his fiancé. Therein lies the conflict.There's some good shtick in this flick. The shaved-headed cop plays it over the top, to good effect. The dog, the organs man, the judge, all made me laugh, or at least chuckle...maybe a groan or two.

I had never heard of this movie until 2004... I was scanning through StarZ, and seen a movie coming on in 10 minutes, it had Jason Lee, and Tom Green... so of course i was gonna watch, I actually liked the movie, it was funny and had a great story.A man promises his niece he will pay her way to college, and not really believing she will go, gets into Harvard. So somehow he was to come up with the money. His friend 'Duff' gets him into all sorts of trouble, telling him all these ways to get money. But ultimately they cant ever seem to pull it off. Lee's character's girlfriend's dad (woah), says a remark to her about her in-home job. So she decides to try and help Lee and Green... Even though her character doesn't like Green. She plans to steal the money from her father. Admist this hiest, many funny things happen, yet i won't say what happens towards the end. I would tell anyone to pick it up and see it.

If it wasn't for Tom Green this movie would really be embarrassing (especially when you consider that even with him it was slightly embarrassing). The acting was just really bad and made it hard to laugh even at the clever jokes. There was nothing original being introduced and the unoriginal material wasn't better than it's originals in any way at all. Tom Green gives this movie a little kick with his brilliance but even he can't save something this butchered. The court seen near the end could have had so much more done with it but it was as if they had only been granted enough time to shoot the scene.Don't pay money to watch this movie. If it comes on TV and there is absolutely nothing else even half decent on watch it, but just for Tom Green.