Going Greek (2001)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son.--Dean Wormer, "Animal House".Movies like "Going Greek" show how really, really difficult it is to make another film as good and inspired as "Animal House".First, you need to have a good script. This doesn't.Then you need to have a funny cast. This doesn't.Then add in an inspired director who can find and enhance the comedy. Justin Zackhan ain't it.Maybe if the people watching this film are as trite, loud, drunk and stupid as the characters in it, they might find this film amusing, but I doubt it. I found "Going Greek" to be a sad, formulaic waste of time.

The basis of this film is simple. Two college guys wanting to get into the best fraternity on campus. Except Jake doesn't want to pledge, he just wants to keep his scholarship and continue studying. But his nerdy cousin drags him along and sooner he is obligated to stay because of his cousin. Basically.. Avoid this film, its not funny.. It uses basic cheesy humor, that hardly even brought a smile to my face.. The 90 minute movie is pretty much; What happens if you pledge at a major fraternity..It includes..Circle Jerks Binge Drinking Sleeping with Women and.. A lame Scavanger Hunt.If you feel like watching a cheesy frat boy movie where half of them just want to get laid, or you like looking at half naked men for 90 minutes.. Rent it..Do not Buy.. Horrible!

...having seen this movie, I must disagree with most of the other commentators. This film is quite bad in just about every basic aspect.For one, instead of having a strong story that drives our heroes Gil and Jake to strive for inclusion at the expense of their dignity, we have nothing more than a series of episodic gross-out gags and ruses, not to mention a slapped-on romance. The razor-thin plot consists of fraternity brothers inducting Gil in hopes that Jake would join the fraternity as well and, with his former football skills, beat a rival fraternity (of which we know nothing of, by the way) in a football game that exists only because there was a need for an uplifting and climactic ending.Second, the gags are gross in the extreme, yet they are neither funny (thanks to poor timing aided by the aforementioned episodic approach, despite well-done delivery) nor disgusting (Yes, every conceivable example of displaying people's by-products is in this movie.). Some of the humor is good only when taken out of the context of the film, but for the most part it is just plain sad, because it leaves little for the audience to fill in with their imagination.Third, the bad-enough one-dimensional stereotypes that unfortunately are the characters are in addition plagued with an air of arrogance and self-importance. Moreover, some of the characters are not completely fleshed out and, because of it, they miss moments that could've been ripe with humor. For example, Charlie Talbert gives a memorable and hilarious comedic performance as Dooly, but even that can't save his poorly written on-screen persona. (Early on he says he "likes pussy", but near the end it shows that he is clearly a homosexual. The actual problem is that there is no comedic arc to discern whether that was the case all along, he developed a taste for it, or if he was bi.) Try as I might, these problems couldn't be ignored and ultimately soured the film for me.I gave the film a 3: The lowest rating you can go + Basic principles of film-making are followed + Charlie Talbert.

Didn't know what to expect when I picked this one up at Tower. I was in a bad mood, in need of some silly fun and this flick looked like it stood a chance.Well, it did...and then some!!Man was I surprised. I can't believe I never heard of this before - it didn't have a studio name on it except for Hart Sharp and LIttle Fish which I never heard of.The movie is HILARIOUS. I could go into all of the scenes (Elevator and Circle Jerk being the best!) but you'll just have to trust me on this one. I went in expecting little and ended up loving it. Chalk this one up for the collection!