Tina Fey’s first big blunder. Cavalier and flippant regarding serious issues. Sloppy directing, terrible acting. Where is Helen Hunt when you need her?
Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) has some mommy-daddy issues. Her feminist mother Susannah (Lily Tomlin), sporting a Bella Abzug tattoo, proudly keeps reminding her Princeton
According to the Princeton website, Princeton University received 26,664 applications for admission to the Class of 2016 and admitted 2,094 students and
While Portia is blissfully unaware of her boyfriend’s affair, the Dean of Admissions,
What is the Princeton criteria for admission? Janet Lavin Rapelye, the dean of admissions for Princeton University, answered reader’s questions in September, 2012 for The New York Times. http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/guidance-office-princeton-answers-1/ **
**One question submitted by a Chinese student but not addressed by Rapelye was most revea
Now, after my hour-long research on all things Princeton, I return to critiquing the movie: Portia’s mantra is that there is no secret formula for getting in to Princeton. But, it seems, everything hinges not only on academic and SAT scores, but the much-feared essay.
If you have seen the trailer for ADMISSION, it’s no secret that John tells Portia he has proof that Jeremiah is the baby she gave up for adoption when she was in college. Now, John wants Portia to make sure that Jeremiah gets into Princeton. Portia does every unethical trick to help Jeremiah. As a respected Princeton employee and a frontrunner for the position of Dean of Admissions, what Portia does is shocking. She should have told the dead of admissions that Jeremiah was her son and recused herself from judging his application. Instead, she plays dirty. She makes a sly deal with arch-rival Corrine to vote for her candidate in exchange for Corrine’s vote for Jeremiah.
This is a role for Helen Hunt. Fey does not have the acting depth to play such a role. She cannot get into the skin of Portia. Losing Mark is just an inconvenience after 10 years together. Her mother’s double mastectomy is dealt with by the comment “I could have driven you to the hospital”. A scene like this needs a strong emotional undercurrent. And poor Rudd is forced to play a one-note, environmental Brown Shirt character filled with shopworn speeches about digging wells in Uganda (where he adopted a sassy-mouthed boy). You can tell Rudd is uncomfortable with the hackneyed dialogue he has to say and then say again. All Rudd can do is fall back on his charm and give a look of engagement and sincerity.
Tomlin is terrif
Children are hard to raise. Adopted children come with a deeper, more troubling dynamic. I know several people who adopted children. It has turned out badly since there is always resentment. They feel cheated and there are only two people to take their bitterness out on – the well-meaning adoptive parents. It is a fact that – even if the mother had good reasons – they were abandoned and given up by their mother. However, Jeremiah and John’s son are both well-adjusted, happy adoptees.
Portia got pregnant, slipped away for a few months and then returned to her college life. A small blip that could have ruined her CV. She never mentioned it again or showed any regret. It’s like she gave away a kitten. Wouldn’t we see some angst for the children she turns down for admission? Would she look at babies and wonder “what if”. Did she ever think about what happened to her baby?
Is this a comedy? I laughed just twice. The stab at laughter when John forced Portia to help with a pregnant cow was not funny.
The director, Paul Weitz, who directed one of the most emotionally engaging films, ABOUT A BOY (2002), fails here. The actors over-exaggerate with clown-like faces in the opening scenes. Weitz does not seem to be able to actually direct Fey. He cannot get her to emotionally relate to the scenes. What was it about the novel by Jean Hanff Koreliz and the screenplay by Karen Croner that appealed to him? Was it just a paycheck? The energy is missing in Weitz’s directing.
Tina Fey can do no wrong, but in my opinion, ADMISSION, as a vehicle for her first starring role and name-above-the-title movie, misses the mark.
Victoria Alexander is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association: www.bfca.org/ and the Las Vegas Film Critics Society: www.lvfcs.org/. Victoria’s weekly column, “The Devil’s Hammer,” is posted every Monday. http://www.fromthebalcony.com/editorials.php.
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