Believe it or not, "Dorm Daze" is for fans of AMC, not MTV.
I watched this movie because Patrick Renna was in it, and he's always been funny. But I was expecting a really terrible "American Pie" clone, and I was pleasantly surprised. This is not a typical "college" movie. It's nothing like Animal House, Old School, or Van Wilder. "Dorm Daze" is an homage to old-style comedy, in the manner of Laurel & Hardy or the East Side Kids -- comedy that the audiences of most modern college movies have never heard of. So I see why it was given terrible reviews by most. But if you appreciate the black-and-white stuff, you'll like this. I was very pleasantly surprised.
There were a lot of things I liked about this movie, but here's an unusual one: Even though I was watching the "unrated" version, and many of the characters are indeed rather sexually motivated, this was certainly not as in-your-face sexual as most college comedies are. Most of the comedy is found in chase scenes, mistaken identity, people getting thrown out of windows, and the like. That was a plus.
On the downside, there are no really memorable lines. While the early scenes between Patrick Renna and Chris Owen seemed a little forced, the overall dialog wasn't bad (well, in the age of Star Wars prequels I think we've all learned that good dialog is optional). Still, there certainly was no "Honey, you think KFC's still open?" or "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life." But maybe that's not a bad thing. There are too many movies out there that seem to only stay afloat because they're quotable -- "Zoolander" comes to mind.
I did have one real problem with this movie. There was no cross-dressing! What's a slapstick without a guy in a dress?
Rating: 6.5 out of 10, but I'm leaving it with a 7 because the unexpected watchability of this movie convinced me to round up.
I watched this movie because Patrick Renna was in it, and he's always been funny. But I was expecting a really terrible "American Pie" clone, and I was pleasantly surprised. This is not a typical "college" movie. It's nothing like Animal House, Old School, or Van Wilder. "Dorm Daze" is an homage to old-style comedy, in the manner of Laurel & Hardy or the East Side Kids -- comedy that the audiences of most modern college movies have never heard of. So I see why it was given terrible reviews by most. But if you appreciate the black-and-white stuff, you'll like this. I was very pleasantly surprised.
There were a lot of things I liked about this movie, but here's an unusual one: Even though I was watching the "unrated" version, and many of the characters are indeed rather sexually motivated, this was certainly not as in-your-face sexual as most college comedies are. Most of the comedy is found in chase scenes, mistaken identity, people getting thrown out of windows, and the like. That was a plus.
On the downside, there are no really memorable lines. While the early scenes between Patrick Renna and Chris Owen seemed a little forced, the overall dialog wasn't bad (well, in the age of Star Wars prequels I think we've all learned that good dialog is optional). Still, there certainly was no "Honey, you think KFC's still open?" or "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life." But maybe that's not a bad thing. There are too many movies out there that seem to only stay afloat because they're quotable -- "Zoolander" comes to mind.
I did have one real problem with this movie. There was no cross-dressing! What's a slapstick without a guy in a dress?
Rating: 6.5 out of 10, but I'm leaving it with a 7 because the unexpected watchability of this movie convinced me to round up.