PCU
Chad'z rating: ** (out of 4 = fair/below average)
1994, PG-13, 80 minutes [1 hour, 20 minutes]
[comedy]
starring: Jeremy Piven (Droz), Chris Young (Tom), Megan Ward (Katy), Jon Favreau (Gutter); written by Adam Leff, Zak Penn; produced by Paul Schiff; directed by Hart Bochner.
Seen December 21, 1997 on home video (borrowed from Shane Rogers).
The screwball college comedy is a long-dead genre, and it's no wonder - there's only so many ways you can tell the same story about hazing and partying. Today, college life isn't so much about being popular as it is being politically correct (PC), and from the title alone, "PCU" invokes the stinging satirical commentary the genre was missing. Unfortunately, that's also where the film's wit ends, as it turns out to be just an updated screwball flick that substitutes PC for fraternity wars and panty raids.
Right from the get-go it's clear how clueless the film is about college as it presents us with two cartoony extremes: Tom (Young), the clean-cut, jacket- and-tie-wearing, geeky pre-frosh who's visiting Port Chester University for the weekend; and Droz (Piven), the seventh-year senior/slacker who's stuck with having to show him around. When the two meet, Droz tells Tom to get the 1950s college images out of his head, which is amazing, since I would tell the filmmakers to get the 1990s college images out of their heads! It's as if they've watched way too much MTV and think all GenXers must be either outrageously liberal or lazy, and have combined it with the campiness of "National Lampoon's Animal House."
Case-in-point: Droz leads Tom through a courtyard where all the different PC groups are camped out such as the "Womynists," the black militants, the pot- heads, and the people who fight for a different cause each week (this week it's anti-meat). Within minutes, Droz and his fellow slackers get geeky little Tom to join in on their prank as they hurl meat at the protesters, and a chase scene ensues.
Now, the PC-obsessed nature of the student groups has obviously been exaggerated as a parody, and does make for some funny jokes, but the problem is there's no sense of moderation. Had the film been about a longer period of time instead of just two days (and just plain longer for that matter - 80 minutes is much too short for such a mainstream film), that would have provided for opportunities for sharp satire instead of just throwing it all at us at the same time.
About the only thing the film does correctly is establish a conflict for the protagonists to overcome, and in this case it's Droz's house's efforts to raise over $7,000 in 24 hours to pay their damages fee or else they'll be evicted. And what better way to raise money than by throwing a party and charging admission? Unfortunately, the campus is split into such rigid sects, is there really any way to get everyone together? Droz believes there is and explains why with the kind of logic that would work fine in a sitcom, but seems ridiculous here.
The ball finally gets rolling as each member of the house goes out to get someone or something and/or keep others away. This gives the film a good reason to be all over the map and to constantly switch from character to character. The wild antics pour in and although some of them are funny (at first), the film makes the same mistake of packing them too close together. We get scenes of Tom being chased all over campus by different PC groups which he has managed to offend (accidentally of course). Meanwhile Droz and company go looking for kegs and sabotage a party in which the all the school's administrator's are attending. After a while you have to wonder what's so funny about watching a bunch of pathetic, unlikable characters go nuts.
It should be noted that the film is not nearly as bad as it could have been. It does occasionally show signs of promise with its scenes of dialogue, but those are often trite and contrived. Special mention should be made to Jon Favreau as Gutter, who, although he is a generic character, is at least interesting and likable.
There's so much more that could have been done with "PCU," most notably, focusing more on the PC and less on the U.
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(C) 1997 Chad Polenz
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