Disappointing considering the rave reviews..

Rating: 3/10 (22 July 2004)

I was really looking forward to seeing this movie. I loved Elf and Old School. I enjoy movies like EuroTrip and Bad Santa as well as more mainstream comedies (I mention this so you know that I do like comedies). I was excited when I saw the cast list and then when I started reading all of the rave reviews, I was really excited to see this movie! I even waited a bit so my wife and 2 children could go too since everyone said it was a consistent laugh fit. Well, they were apparently watching a different movie.
Ferrell is good but not great. Steve Carrell is a scene-stealer as always. The rest of the cast is very hit or miss (except Fred Willard on the phone about his son) and the jokes just aren't there. I thought that maybe I was just too excited about seeing it but the rest of my family had not been as excited and shared the same impressions.
There were a few interesting scenes (one with "sex panther" cologne and one involving "pants tents" that I am amazed I have never seen used before to that extent) that really did make me chuckle but they were few and far between. Much of it, such as a news team "rumble" was just weird and never really got funny. I have re-read some of the reviews and just do not understand why they saw it so differently from us.
One small defect in our viewing was that the sound and the picture were just slightly out of sync (words did not match the mouth movements) but it was barely noticeable and I do not believe it really effected my opinion. I wish I had not taken my children (13 yrs old) to it due to a few comments and scenes but if it had been really funny, I would have overlooked that.

You will have to judge for yourself but I urge you to not just assume it is going to be the great movie others are claiming it is.