Saw Animal House, another anarchic college film, celebrating the revolt of the slobs against those wicked snobs. Like Dazed and Confused, and American Graffiti, I didn't think much of it. I thought the protagonists were jerks and that the antagonists were kinda cute in a bland, ken-doll kind of way. The most compelling character was John Belushi's of course, the silent, animalistic creature who smashes a bottle on his own head to cheer up one of his friends, who wordlessly and pointlessly pours mustard on his chest. I don't know if a movie that featured that character would have been better (a little goes a long way with gross out and absurd humor) but the scenes he's in, he steals.
I thought the treatment of Donald Southerland's co-ed-bedding professor was interesting. He's seen as a peer, not as a clueless antagonist. He's a rival for that one girl's affections but he's not an enemy the way the evil Dean is or the way those smirking bastards in Omega Theta Pi are. I think the zeitgeist now has cast professors and experts as out-of-touch wonks and elites, not as friendly pot-providers. Also there's a scene with a passed-out drunk girl that I think would have been underlined a bit more hamfistedly had the film been made today.
I dunno. I think it does the right things and does okay. I wish maybe the female characters had been given more depth, but eh. What do expect for a frat comedy from the 70s? This one left me cold. Too much cruelty I guess. Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood.
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