A high school slacker who’s rejected by every school he applies to opts to create his own institution of higher learning, the South Harmon Institute of Technology, on a rundown piece of property near his hometown.
Bartleby “B” Gaines (Justin Long) never thought that his experience with college application rejection would transform an entire community into believers of destiny. Of all the colleges that he applied to, “B” never got accepted into a single one. Unable to admit this to his parents Diane (Ann Cusack) and Jack Gaines (Mark Derwin), who are overly passionate with regard to academic excellence, he fudges through every conversation to prevent breaking their hearts by telling them that he never got accepted. Not only does he not want to tell them the truth, but he also has a hard time facing his younger sister who isn’t as easily fooled by his avoidance of the issue.
Bartleby’s answer to keeping the big secret of his campus rejections at bay starts off as a group project in which he enlists the help of his childhood friend Sherman Schrader (Jonah Hill) to build an illegal website of a campus that would serve as an institution of higher learning. From there, a letter of acceptance is printed and sent to his home address as proof that Bartleby has finally been accepted into college. This same process is invoked for his other friends who are in the same predicament. Bartleby’s next step is to find a piece of physical property to further prove its existence. The old Harmon Psychiatric Hospital that he leases is full of promise after some heavy-duty cleaning and each of his friends play a vital role in bringing it to fruition. They proudly named it the South Harmon Institute of Technology. The plan seems to be going exceedingly well until all the misfits and previously rejected applicants to colleges in the local community are able to register for South Harmon Institute via a gap that allows them full access to the website and to get accepted.
The tension from Bartleby’s friends begins to rise as they feel their initial plan to fool their parents had gotten way out of hand as the illegal campus seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. The campus shenanigans that start to take place in the non-instructor led forums also contribute to a new level of liability which they aren’t prepared for. Unwilling to collapse under peer pressure, Bartleby chooses to do absolutely nothing until his love interest, Monica’s (Blake Lively) current boyfriend gets wind of it and decides to plan a parents’ day visit that will expose Bartleby and the unaccredited campus he is running. Once Bartleby is exposed, not only does he have to face his parents and their disappointment, but he must also face the consequences of his illegal actions as well as all the students who have been thriving at the institute with their newfound confidence. To keep the school from going under, Bartleby’s righthand man Schrader, who had fallen out with him over the exposure, puts in a surprise request for accreditation and when the entire group has their day in court, a surprise ending teaches the entire community a lesson in stereotypical classification.
Director Steve Pink does an excellent job with the casting of the characters who complement one another in their individual and diverse needs for approval within the same social structure. The all-encompassing storyline, where the underdog must prove himself worthy, is very relative to the current issues facing today’s youth. Originally produced in 2006 and with just the right amount of humor, determination, and skepticism, this timeless film covers a broad gap between the haves and have nots, giving the power of transformation to an underestimated community of individuals who didn’t seem worthy of the opportunity to be successful in their own right.
Available on Blu-ray January 19th from Mill Creek Entertainment
