College

Starring Drake Bell, Andrew Caldwell, and Kevin Covais
Directed by Deb Hagan
Rated R

1) Most movies about the college experience have roughly the same sense of humor, although their execution varies wildly.

2) There are a lot more breasts than I expected.

Since the days of Animal House, the rules of college flicks really haven't changed all that much. There's debauchery, pranks, drunkenness (separate from the debauchery), skewered authority figures, arrogant frat boys who can neither spell nor adequately prepare for comeuppance, heroic geeky figures, and women.

And that's pretty much the movie.

College is no better or worse than some of the rest. They all kind of blend together after a while. And because the stories are practically identical, it's kind of hard to know where to judge these movies. I guess I'll begin with the high school kids, who look and talk like the first drafts of the high school kids from Superbad (who, incidentally, wanted alcohol and sex, too).

Their interaction is fun to watch; there's the everyman (Drake Bell), the fat guy (Andrew Caldwell), and the geek (Kevin Covais). And for you pop culture aficionados, that is the same Kevin Covais who appeared on American Idol a few seasons back. Unlike Jennifer Hudson, though, he won't be winning an Oscar for his supporting role here.

There is a ceiling for these frat party movies, and it's really their own fault. Every decade or so, we'll get a Revenge of the Nerds or Old School that offers enough things that are different while adhering to the basic premise. The rest of the time, we get two or three versions of PCU every year. College doesn't make any major modifications, offers zero surprises, and just a few really big laughs.

Better luck next time, I guess.