TxMike
I had missed this movie when it came out 11 years ago but now found it on Netflix streaming movies. I like Thornton, he always creates interesting characters. Heder was a big hit as 'Napoleon Dynamite' but didn't do too much of significance after that although he is fine here. Jim Parsons of TV 'Big Bang Theory' fame has a very small role in this movie, I don't think he even says any lines, it was probably made when he was still an unknown.Jon Heder is Roger Waddell in an embarrassing job as a meter maid in New York, and as the story begins we see him being intimidated by a couple of guys he had just given a parking ticket to. He tells his friend the story and the friend promptly gives him a phone number.The phone number has him reach Billy Bob Thornton as Dr. P who, for $5000 per student conducts classes designed to turn them into people who stand up for themselves and can go out and get what they want. Dr. P is just a scam artist but Roger decides to take it all seriously.A pawn of sorts in all this is pretty Jacinda Barrett as Amanda who lives in the same building as Roger. He is sweet on her and decides he will make his intentions known as part of his improvement plan. But Dr. P decides he will try to win her for himself, even though he has a wife. It is mostly silliness in implausible situations. I most enjoyed the tennis outing where Roger was not so nice to Dr. P.
btm1
There was a decent but not outstanding British comedy (1960) by the same name as this film, starring that great comic actor Alastair Sim, who also was wonderful as Scrooge in 1951's Christmas Carol. It was based loosely (the books resemble self-improvement manuals) on Stephen Potter's well-worth reading "One Upmanship" and "Lifemanship" books. Those hilarious best-selling books provide the reader with a guide as to how to use guile to get even with someone you identify as worthy of getting even with, or as Potter put it, "creative intimidation." To some extent the 2006 "School for Scoundrels" could also be said to be based on those Potter books. While the original books and the 1960 film envisioned a small private college that taught the art of being one-up (if you are not one up, you're one down), the 2006 version is a single self-improvement course taught secretly by a masterful rogue (Billy Bob Thornton) who calls himself Dr. P, to a group of low self-esteem "losers." His course resembles extreme confidence building sink or swim exercises more than one-upmanship. But he also goes one-on-one to put down the best of his students. It is explained that Dr. P is very competitive and shoots down anyone who might approach his level of skill. When facially challenged Roger (Jon Heder) unexpectedly is standing out as the best of his class, a one-upmanship contest between the master and the student gets underway.This is a fun film to watch; not at all sophomoric and not leaning on the slapstick approach. In addition to the two leads, the rest of the cast includes, among others, well known comic Sarah Silverman and comic actor Ben Stiller. Stiller is about as good as he gets (he is usually in films that are not my taste in comedy, although I recently saw him in something I really enjoyed.) On the other hand, the lines given to Sarah Silverman just make her character brassy rather than funny and are not up to the caliber of her stand-up comedy that she writes for herself.
moviedude1
Jon Heder stars as a pathetic meter maid who enrolls in a confidence-building course under the tutelage of Billy Bob Thornton, who undertakes the role of turning him and the rest of his class into lions. As Heder's confidence grows, he begins to show his true interest in the girl across the hall from his own apartment, but things really take a turn for the worse as Thornton pretends to show an interest in the girl, too, in an effort to get Heder to the next level.I thought this film would be one of those teenager flicks that would be profanity every other word, but it wasn't. The premise of the movie was all right, but the plot probably could have used a little more work. Someone turned me onto this film, telling me that it would not be at all like I expected, and I rather enjoyed the time I spent watching it, but, looking back, it seemed like there's something missing to the film. The chemistry between Thornton and Heder was very good but it just lacked that "something" that would have made this a great film. Thornton has had those roles lately that just make you want to hate him (Mr. Woodcock, for example), and I feel that he has a range of much more than he's been trying to accomplish, lately. It just felt like the cast and crew just sat down, laid out the movie plot, then filmed it.7 out of 10 stars.
view_and_review
Ring! ring! Operator: "1-800-4LOSERS, how may I help you?" Producer: I'm doing a movie and I need a few losers for the film.Operator: You've called the right place. What type of losers are you looking for? Producer: I don't know, who do you have?Operator: Well, we have a few available. We have Dan Fogler, star of "Balls of Fury". We have David Cross who has played a loser in too many movies to count. And... Oh yeah! We have America's hottest loser right now: Jon Heder, the guy from Napolean Dynamite, The Benchwarmers, and Blades of Glory.Producer: Great, I'll take them all.And so goes the movie. Revenge of the nerds without being as funny nor as compelling.
AD
