 Sorority Boys (2002) Was that even a sentence? Anyway, this movie is precisely as stupid and crude as you'd expect, but awfully funny almost in spite of itself. No easy joke goes unmade; no innuendo left hidden; no awkward situation avoided. It manages to be so successful in its insular childishness that you don't notice it's a bad movie, probably because no one involved took it even remotely seriously. It's bawdy and raucous like a Shakespearean gender-bender, though Shakespeare would have to have been mighty high to write so sloppy. The incredulous plot (frat boys dress up as girls to get free lodging at the "ugly girl" sorority) is full of clichés, as well it should be, and it's acted as broadly as can be, as well it should be. Impossible situations arise wherein absurd reactions are allowed to take place. And by the end, everyone gets some. Lots better than it should have been. Kudos for cameos by Peter Scolari and Wendy Jo Sperber (both of "Bosom Buddies"), though they really should have gotten Michael Zorek on board to complete the circle. I feel like the utes of today have it better off than I did, since the teen sex movies of the 00s are so much better executed. On the other hand, the ones from the 80s had way more gratuitous T&A, so perhaps we got the better end of the bargain after all.
Review by Jean Siskel |