Admission

Paul Rudd and Tina Fey are possibly the most likable actors out there. Okay, maybe not, but it is difficult to find two actors who are much more likable that these two and just thinking of them in a movie together feels right. They just feel like they would have adorable witty chemistry together. At least that has always been my thought. The trailers for Admission looked to confirm these thoughts. The film did not look laugh out loud funny, but looked witty, intelligent and cute.I did not have high expectations and it took us awhile to finally get around to see it, but when I did, I was not terribly surprise to find that I like it, if my liking it lacked much enthusiasm.

Portia Nathan (Fey) is on the admissions board for Princeton university. She goes to high schools drumming up excitement for students to apply to Princeton and she reads files of potential students and makes a judgement based on what is in the file. She takes her job very seriously and has for the entire 16 years she has worked there. She is a very serious person who lives by her routine. She is not good with kids and very much wants a quiet safe existence. Everything was going according to plan until she gets a call from John Pressman, who works at a new high school and wants her to come visit and talk about Princeton. At first it appears fine, but Pressman eventually drops the bomb that he believes one student, Jeremiah (Nat Wolff) is her son. Pressman and Nathan went to college together, did not know each other, but knew a common person and the specific date and time of her giving birth stuck with Pressman all of these years. He believes that Jeremiah would be perfect for Princeton, but also he thinks Jeremiah wants to know his real mother. This throws Nathan's life into complete disarray. Unrelated to this, her boyfriend leaves her because he got an awful woman pregnant with twins and Nathan is truly on her own and she hates it. Eventually Nathan starts finding reasons to visit Jeremiah and John Pressman and starts to feel like maybe she is a part of something. The problem? Jeremiah, while incredibly bright, had a rough first three years of high school and getting him accepted is going to be a seriously uphill battle.

Admission is witty, warm, predictable, and ultimately very middle of the road. Fey and Rudd are likable and both do a good job with the material, but the film never quite takes off like I wanted it to. There are a few laugh out loud moments, mostly provided by Lilly Tomlin's perfect being, but for the most part, it was just so awkward/uncomfortable that even nervous laughter would not work. Fey and Rudd are working hard to mine the material for laughs, but honestly, I think I would have enjoyed the movie if the awkward moments were played in a more serious tone. I think I would have liked the movie as a whole more if it had picked a tone and stuck with it. I am all for movies that are funny and serious, but there is usually a tone that runs underneath the whole picture, and here it just felt wonky. I could not tell if it was trying to be a super awkward comedy with serious moments, or a more serious drama with a few funny moments. That could be the fault of the screenplay, or through Paul Weitz' uneven direction. I am not sure, but the movie feels confused.

That being said, the relationships work. I loved seeing the Rudd character and his adopted son clash over different desires from life. That little kid was cute and did a great job. Rudd and Fey are great, but Fey and Tomlin need a tv show together. They make a perfect mother/daughter team. Every time Fey's character went home the movie got just a bit better. Also, the kid who plays Jeremiah plays socially awkward well, to the point where I wondered if the character was on the autism scale. It is never mentioned, but it felt like the kid could have had Asperger Syndrome. This is not even remotely important to the film, but I was distracted by it because I just wanted someone to acknowledge the possibility. The scene between the kid and Fey were just too awkward for me. That is where the biggest problem lies. I know they are supposed to be awkward because, well she thinks he is her son that she gave up for adoption and she has no idea how to interact with him, but the laughs are just too ridiculous. The scene where she goes undercover as a college student to try and make sure he is okay is not only cringe worthy, it is just stupid.

Admission is as milquetoast as a movie can possibly be. Everyone deserves better. I almost wish the entire movie had done away with the birth mom aspect, and just focused on the college admission process. I feel like there is a really great movie about the depths high school kids and their parents go to to get admitted to a prestigious college. I would like to see that movie as a biting social drama with curt sarcasm. Or, maybe just see the version of this movie where Tina Fey is the screenwriter, and not just an actress in it.

Final Grade: C-