School for Scoundrels Review

When I saw a preview for a movie in the movie theater a couple of months ago starring Billy Bob Thornton, and that Napoleon Dynamite guy, I knew I had to see that movie. I am going to be completely honest; I did not care what the movie was going to be about, or even what it was called. All I really cared was that there was a movie with a total bad ass, Billy Bob Thornton, and a total dimwit, Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite).

School for Scoundrels is actually one of the best 'dumb comedy' films I have seen in quite some time. It stars Jon Heder as a New York City meter maid who suffers anxiety attacks, gets picked on by just about everyone, and is well a complete total loser.

In the beginning of the movie, Heder's character Roger is thrown throw a series of events, such as getting robbed in his meter maid mobile, losing his 'little brother' in the 'Big Brother' program because he wasn't cool enough, etc, that just causes the poor man to break down and cry. His friend Ian comes to Roger's rescue by giving him a phone number, and promises that the phone number will lead Roger to a self help class that will help turn Roger's life away.

Roger of course goes home, and soon finds himself on the phone with a mysterious person (Billy Bob Thornton). The man on the phone tells Roger to get five thousand dollars in a white envelope and meet him at a specific location. This is really where the movie starts to pick up.

The next hour or so is filled with events of Roger joining Dr. P's (Billy Bob Thornton) exclusive self help class. While Roger initially is scared of Dr. P, as the movie progresses, Roger goes from being a complete loser to a person capable of challenging Dr. P; something that Dr. P of course does not like.

School for Scoundrels is of course a comedy, but it also has the whole romance story thrown in to it for good measure. The main reason for Roger to take the self help class is not really to help him, but rather just so he could have a chance with his neighbor, Amanda. Dr. P knows this, and of course when Roger tries to excel to the top of the class, Dr. P immediately tries to attack Roger by going for Amanda.

As I mentioned earlier, this movie flows nicely. To me, there were not any dull parts, as every part of this movie flowed together, and was quite funny. The scenes where Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton) and Roger (Jon Heder) were competing against each other were completely priceless, and as mentioned earlier, the sole reason I decided to go see this movie in the movie theater.

While Jon Heder's character Roger, is of course the main character, Billy Bob Thornton really steals the show by delivering his usual "Here I am to steal the show" attitude. Thornton takes every role seriously, and it is evident in this movie, that despite being a comedy, Thornton continues to be a bad ass until the end of the movie.

So who was this movie made for? That's a tough question. It seems that Jon Heder's staple is for movies in which he stars as a low self esteem, anxiety riddled man, while Billy Bob Thornton's staple is of course being a bad ass. Fans of either actor will no doubt love this movie, but what does the movie have to offer people that don't necessarily like either of these actors? Well, even though it's a comedy, it still has a very nice, well developed plot. It's a excellent movie for dating teenagers looking for a funny movie for the guys, and a romance movie for the girls. In the end, the movie really appeals to a large audience. If however, you are like some people, who simply can not stand that "Napoleon Dynamite kid" than this movie, just like all of Jon Heder's other movies simply is not for you. If you are still debating on whether or not to go see School for Scoundrels in the movie theater, you could just wait a month or so and rent it at your local video store.