Movie Hall of Fame: Old School

I actually liked Old School before it came out. I was a Will Ferrell fan long before the movie was released, thanks to one of my favorite movies, Night At The Roxbury, as well as his masterful work on Saturday Night Live. But even all of those precursors didn't prepare me for the quantity and intensity of laughter I'd enjoy from Old School.

Ferrell sort of set the groundwork for his characters in more recent films (Blades of Glory specifically) with a somewhat dumb but very intense demeanor. Many films have used the age-old tradition of streaking to try to get cheap laughs (one even focused almost exclusively on the act, to its demise), but no other instance of bare-assed running has ever come close to the humor that Ferrell created. His interactions with Snoop Dogg and his new wife are comedic genius (as is the therapy meeting that follows), and provide some of the most quotable lines: "Everybody's doing it."

Vince Vaughn plays about the same character in every movie, but Old School might be the apex of it all. He talks a shit ton of trash, and I love it. Luke Wilson plays the straight man, as he often does, and while he doesn't have a lot of great lines, he gives a lot of set up to Ferrell and Vaughn. Jeremy Piven, as Dean Pritchard, does a great job of playing "the man," going opposite his own previous role from one of Old School's predecessors, PCU.

The simple fact is this: I have never laughed more at any movie than the first time I watched Old School. I have a tough time saying there have ever been any better comedies, in my time or any time. And when you're the best at what you do, you get a spot in my hall of fame.

Unless it's country music. Sorry Garth, Tim, Hank, and the rest of you. Move along.