PCU (1994)

OK this is something that I never expected which was to give this movie a 6 in rating. I was replacing my copy of Airheads but was only able to find a copy paired with this movie and to my dread needed to get it in order to get the movie I wanted and so I watched it...PCU is about a nice young man going off to get a look at the college he wants to attend, little does he know that he'll have the whole school out for his head. At PCU all the students are protesting something and almost every one is against anyone or anything that they can think of at the moment. During this time our potential new student must look to try and help a failing frat house maintain it's stance on campus.Well you know I typically look at this movie...and the fact that David Spade is in it, and say..."ugh, another Animal House ripoff" I was surprised to find the movie being fairly amusing. The protesters for nearly everything concept was very entertaining and a little bit on the original side though I'm not sure about how original it is. The dumping meat on the vegan protest cracked me up good. Jeremy Piven plays the usual man with the plan college student who manages to be on top of everything and pretty much at that point the acting is at it's highest level. It's not really any major piece of art but at the same time it is still entertaining.If you have $5 to spend you can find the Airheads PCU combination and I can safely say that PCU is not a detriment to the package.

I must have watched PCU over two dozen times back in the late 90s when Comedy Central was running it to death. Absolutely the kind of film I would NEVER EVER think I'd like, but I watch it every time it's on. I developed a genuine affection for it. Why? I don't know. After all, it's 90% "Animal House" ripoff right to the core. The whole slob-house gang versus the useless administration and annoying rival Greek letter outfit. Instead of "Otis, My Man!" there's George Clinton and P-Funk. Instead of Otter, there's Droz, instead of John Belushi, there's "Gutter" and so on. I know this reads like I'm putting it down, but far from it. Any movie about college that features a student who's senior thesis is watching TV 24/7 just to prove that there's always a Gene Hackman or Michael Caine movie playing is OK with me! Very twisted! I'll never buy the DVD, but I will watch it anytime I happen to catch it on my cable.

The movie features an incredible cast with Jeremy Piven anchoring the lead role, and featuring David Spade in a usual tie-wearing, brown nosing politician egocentric.The movie from beginning to the end was fun and funny, yet doing their part to point out the vast political correctness and sensitivity society is in these days. The only thing was it felt like a ripoff of Animal House (only a PG13 version). The fraternity on campus that causes problems for the university...the dean trying to run them out of the school...the alcohol...the parties and the dean's personal student monkey.But for those that could care less about originality...this movie is a must-see.

I'm really glad this movie was able to find its audience on video, because it deserves recognition. This is a damn good film! The unfortunate thing about a movie like "PCU" is that the "Animal House" comparisons are inevitable. But there's no point in comparing. "PCU" stands on its own two feet. "Animal House" is one take on college fraternities and "PCU" is another. It's like comparing "The Naked Gun" to "In the Heat of the Night," because they're both about cops. The characters and plot in this movie are in no way derivative of "Animal House." Jeremy Piven was a great choice for the lead. I've always been a fan of his, but he always gets stuck with supporting roles. In this case, he proves that he has the confidence to carry a lead role. His laid-back sense of humor makes the jokes all-the-more hilarious. I'm often more appreciative of comic actors who don't try to hammer a joke to death with mugging and wacky inflections. Piven delivers a joke the way it's supposed to be delivered--in a straight fashion. We don't see enough of that nowadays. And I can say the same about most of the actors in the film, with maybe the exception of David Spade. He's the type of actor, who can either be sarcastically funny or sarcastically annoying. He doesn't exactly provide the film's funniest moments, but he plays a moderately small role and doesn't get much of a chance to do any annoying shtick.In the DVD commentary, Jeremy Piven mentioned that the actors weren't allowed to improvise, and he was very disapproving of director Hart Bochner's choice to follow the script verbatim. Luckily, that didn't exactly hurt the film, since the actors were working with a solid script. The point is the movie doesn't look scripted. Whether or not they actually were, the actors seemed comfortable with the material and delivered every gag with great precision. Besides, when you let actors improvise too much, that can also hurt a film. I liked the "Rush Hour" movies, but at times it's so evident that Chris Tucker was stepping out of character to make the audience laugh that there were parts where I was taken out of the movie. I certainly can't complain too much, because the comic style of "PCU" had a uniqueness to it that really stood out for me. After watching Hart Bochner's extremely broad spoof, "High School High," I wasn't exactly sure he had a knack for directing comedy. But in this case, he proved me wrong. The gags here are nowhere near as broad, and it helps that the actors don't act like they're in a comedy. Plus, there are very few cheap shots. Very few jokes about bodily functions of genitalia. In other words, the humor had a certain intelligence--something I DEFINITELY can't say about most comedies nowadays. This is not one of those comedies aimed at a teen to young adult audience, where you're allowed to have an I.Q. of 10. As you can tell from the memorable quotes section, there are plenty of great lines. "You're gonna wear the T-shirt of the band you're gonna go see? Don't be that guy." By the way, that's the only line Jeremy was allowed to improvise, for all you trivia buffs. The most memorable gag, in my opinion, is the one involving the sign language interpreter, who has to translate phrases like "butt pirate" and "pillow biter." No one can deny that gag was classic.Another way cool thing about this movie: the gorgeous Megan Ward. I've never seen her look hotter. She has such a gorgeous girl-next-door look that when Chris Young's character got to kiss her, I felt his happiness. There's a great shot of her from behind, where she's wearing low-cut denim shorts. Very nice! So many elements of this movie just click. I loved the soundtrack too. The songs played over the opening and closing credits are both way cool, and plus you're treated to the great sounds of George Clinton during the film. It was an original idea to choose George Clinton, since you'd expect to see a hard rock or heavy metal band in a film of this sort. All in all, go see this overlooked gem of a movie! You won't be disappointed!