Admission

Plot synopsis:
Straight-laced Princeton University Admissions Officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) is caught off guard when she makes a recruiting visit to an alternative high school overseen by a former college classmate, the free-wheeling John Pressman (Paul Rudd). With vast experience in the coaching, consoling, and criticism involving Princeton's admission, she pays a visit to the Quest School, where John teaches while raising an adopted son. After exposing Portia to outspoken Quest students' impressions of college, he takes her to meet the rather unconventional Jeremiah Balakian, a child prodigy.
Back on campus, Portia's longtime boyfriend Mark breaks up with her after impregnating a "Virginia Woolf scholar" named Helen. After an awkward romantic attraction to Pressman, she arranges for Jeremiah to visit Princeton, where she and a colleague, Corinne, are rivals to succeed the soon-to-retire Dean of Admissions.
Portia long ago had a secret pregnancy, putting the baby up for adoption, and is shown apparent proof by Pressman that Jeremiah is her son. Although he is brilliant, Jeremiah's miserable transcript results in his being deemed unfit to attend the University. Portia, in an act that greatly endangers her position, schemes to gain Jeremiah entrance into the school, knowing that Princeton cannot reveal such a scandal.
Her resignation is demanded. Later, when revealing to Jeremiah that she is his biological mother, she finds out that there was a photocopy mistake on his birth certificate and that the boy has already located his actual biological mother. Portia appears at the Adoption Agency, trying to locate her son, where she describes her life with a different perspective. When asked how would she feel to meet her actual child, she replies that she would feel "nervous, but lucky."
In the end, now dating Pressman, she receives a letter about her son, which says he is not ready to meet her yet. Pressman points out to her that she is on the waitlist "... and that's not so bad."

Tags: comedy, boring, plot twist

Review:
Tina Fey as Portia and Paul Rudd as John turn in pleasant performances as an admissions executive and a progressive school teacher respectively.
Rudd is amiable here and usually successful in his film career, while Fey's efforts up to now have been mediocre (Date Night, Baby Mama).As an Alumni Admissions interviewer for over 30 years at Georgetown University, I find much of the story ringing true from the overachieving candidates nurtured by ambitious parents to the underachieving but brilliant and risky individualists.
However, it's their reactions to the admission process that provide the authentic tension as he has developed students with independent minds, and she is used to the cookie-cutter candidates who lack the passion of those independents.Director Paul Weitz knows something about family dynamics and children with his About a Boy, In Good Company, and Little Fockers among the more obvious examples.
The characters are all good characters so they hold our interest despite the lack of substance to the movie.The laughs are hard to come by, but if you're thinking in terms of a dramatic romantic comedy, then that shouldn't be too surprising.
The story centers on an admissions officer for Princeton University, Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) who is responsible for combing through thousands of submission requests and evaluating who should be allowed to attend this prestigious school.
Granted, some parts are rather bland and contrived which you can thank the screenplay for, but the charming actors, subtle direction, and an interesting story is able to elevate this movie to be the charming movie it is.Paul Weitz directs a film about an overworked Princeton admissions officer named Portia Nathan who on her recruitment trips, meets the highly intellectual Jeremiah takes to the help of an old college classmate named John.
A movie that is worth watching & has a lot of heart but isn't as funny as I was expecting from a Fey/Rudd pairing.
Tina Fey and Paul Rudd and cast are nice surprises for their performances in the humorous drama Admission.
Okay, like some reviewers here, I watched Admission expecting a comedy, the kind Tina Fey and Paul Rudd usually are associated with but unlike some of them, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was more of a drama than a rom-com.
She plays an admissions official at Princeton, and lots of Ivy League clichés and would-be jokes parade by.And that's the overview—a pre-packaged kind of routine film, not very imaginative to start with and never pushed or pulled the way a comedy, or a romance—or both!—ought to be.
Every character is clichéd, over the top and many of them are so mean...Tina Fey is a good actress, but her character i annoying, stupid and way too silly.Paul Rudd can be funny, but he wasn't in this...Its a film that really angers me to the point of exploding, because of its mean-spirit and cringe-worthy characters and story..
I had higher expectations for Admission considering it had two of today's most successful comedy actors: Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.
Stay away from Admission, this is one film you won't want to be enrolling in.Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) has spent the last 16 years of her life working at the admissions department for Princeton University.
The film was funnier than the reviews led me to believe, and while some of the subplots aren't played-out perfectly, they're brought to life by good performances from a strong cast.Perhaps the best characteristic of "Admission" is that it is a departure from the conventional rom-com.
Tina Fey is an admissions officer at the prestigious Princeton College who has to whittle down thousands of applicants each year for the relatively few places available.She meets an ex student from her past, Paul Rudd who has started a radical new college which contains a promising but troubled student who might be her son who she gave up for adoption.The trouble with the movie is that it's neither romantic nor a comedy.
How do you not like a movie with the always likable Tina Fey and Paul Rudd cast as the leads?
However, because of the solid effort by the leads, good performances by supporting cast (even though Lily Tomlin is a little too over the top), and nicely shot scenes, you probably will leave the movie with a slightly favorable impression although you also probably wish they had done more with all that this movie had going for it.So if you need an OK movie (not bad, not great), and a little harmless attempt at romance, and humorous situations without any laugh-out-loud moments, this would be your choice..
Therefore, I tend to trust IMDb member reviews and tend to stick to TV and film that rates a 7 or above.That said, I like both Tina Fey and Paul Rudd and honestly there was nothing else on "on demand" TV so I thought that I would give this movie a try, with low to no expectations given the 5.6 rating.I truly enjoy a diverse range of TV and film (funny, sad, dramatic, weird - sometimes all at once, from Muppets to Dexter etc.).This movie is all of those things and it creeps up on you.
'ADMISSION': Three Stars (Out of Five) Director Paul Weitz's new film is yet another comedy-drama, this one is starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.
It's not nearly as good as Weitz's other films ('ABOUT A BOY', 'IN GOOD COMPANY', 'AMERICAN PIE' or even 'LITTLE FOCKERS') and doesn't live up to Fey and Rudd's potential but it is very touching at times and has a few decent laughs.Fey plays Portia Nathan, a Princeton admissions officer who's obsessed with her career and never made time for anything else.
She also has a troubled and distant relationship with her own mother (Lily Tomlin), she's still dealing with.The movie's not nearly as funny as you'd expect, given it's stars and director, but it does have a few good laughs here and there.
Available on Blu-ray Disc (Region B)USA 2013 English (Colour); Comedy/Drama/Romance (Focus/Depth of Field); 107 minutes (12 certificate)Crew includes: Paul Weitz (Director); Karen Croner (Screenwriter, adapting Novel by Jean Hanff Korelitz ***½ [7/10]); Paul Weitz, Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, Andrew Miano (Producers); Caroline Baron (Executive Producer); Declan Quinn (Cinematographer); Sarah Knowles (Production Designer); Joan Sobel (Editor); Stephen Trask (Composer)Cast includes: Tina Fey (Portia Nathan), Paul Rudd (John Pressman), Michael Sheen (Mark), Wallace Shawn (Clarence), Nat Wolff (Jeremiah Balakian), Lily Tomlin (Susannah Nathan), Gloria Reuben (Corinne), Olek Krupa (Vladimir Polokov), Sonya Walger (Helen), Christopher Evan Welch (Brandt), Travaris Meeks-Spears (Nelson Pressman)"Let someone in."A highly strung, Princeton admissions officer (Fey) meets, and subsequently does her utmost to support (breaking college rules), an exceptional but atypical applicant (Wolff) when she visits a new developmental school, whose altruistic head (Rudd) leads her to believe he may be the son she secretly gave up for adoption.Great to see comedy legend Tomlin back on screen, firing on all cylinders as Fey's feminist, unconventional mum; comparative youngsters Fey and Rudd spark off one another nicely and are immensely likeable together (and apart), while a bearded Sheen steals a few scenes as Fey's unfaithful ex-partner-to-be.Effectively adapted, to fit romcom requirements, from a much more expansive, literary source.Blu-ray Extras: Featurette.
While so many folks are wrapped up in getting their kiddies into the best universities with the best reputations and the best safe places without micro-aggressions, I want kids to get to work living, earning the money for each credit, and feeling that they can give themselves the credit for being grown-ups as soon as possible after high school.Maybe that's why Paul Rudd and Tina Fey dropped off my radar as I went through the theater door after the flick.
Obviously with Tina Fey and Paul Rudd there is some comic relief but giving the premise it would have been foolish to expect a full on comedy - that would have been a mistake - so the movie is a little bit of both a drama and a comedy with some romance thrown into it.
Really lame piece of movie making.Tina Fey: Dreadful Paul Rudd: Not funny at all (How is this possible?) Lily Tomlin, like Wallace Shawn, plays a cad.Spoiler alert for this movie: Do not, under any circumstances, watch this movie.Saving grace was the ventriloquist bit for Rene DesCartes; cool dogs and setting of movie.
'Admission' Synopsis: A Princeton admissions officer who is up for a major promotion takes a professional risk after she meets a college- bound alternative school kid who just might be the son she gave up years ago in a secret adoption.'Admission' begins well, but slips post 30-minutes into the film.
Story of a gal who just won't do things cz she pretend to b happy n her life.The mere presence of Tina Fey and Paul Rudd would elevate most any script and movie.
I did read the plot summary and found it interesting and with actors like Tina and Paul - movie has to be a good laugh.
Although Tina and Paul played a decent role with others doing an okay job, the movie was pretty simple with no real comedy.
Being a fan of Tina Fey is what brought me to this film, with the great ensemble of Paul Rudd and Lily Tomlin and what I expected to find and what I found was very different.
it is really a drama with some light/funny moments....but that is what you would expect from the combination of fey, rudd and tomlin in one movie.this movie deserves a better rating and is definitely worth a watch..
The critics have not been kind, nor the reviewers here, but we really enjoyed this - maybe because we like Screwball Comedies from the 30s and 40s and both agreed that this is really the roots of the comedy here- which is out of step with modern tastes - but makes for a rather interesting drama comedy.The plot centers around Tina Fey, who is the admissions officer, at Princeton - and nothing less than perfect is getting in - and Paul Rudd, a sort of hangover from the 60s who is out to save the world, even it means one person at a time, who is convinced he's got the candidate that she wants.While I agree the film does lack balance and can't decide how it's gong to get its laughs sometimes - it has a zinging script, two immensely likable stars, and the journey is an interesting one.Lots of people will still sneer, but for our money, this is one of the more enjoyable films of the year - it doesn't take itself too seriously, but is not just buffoonery either - it is worth anyone's time - it tries to be a genuine screwball drama comedy, and that's never going to be an easy choice, and we liked that it is at least different..
Much of the success of the film is due to the fine performances by Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Lily Tomlin, Michael Sheen, Gloria Reuben, and Wallace Shawn as well as newcomers Nat Wolff and Travaris Spears.The story can be too quickly summarized as follows: Straitlaced Princeton University admissions officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey), co-habiting with Chaucer-spouting boyfriend Mark (Michael Sheen) is caught off-guard when she makes a recruiting visit to an alternative high school overseen by her former college classmate, the freewheeling John Pressman (Paul Rudd) who has adopted a young lad from Africa (Travaris Spears).
Portia, the lovechild of kooky Susannah (Lily Tomlin), finds herself bending the rules for Jeremiah, putting at risk the life she thought she always wanted -winning admissions director at Princeton where the current director (Wally Shawn) is deciding between Portia and her co-worker Corrine (Gloria Reuben)- but in the process finding her way to a surprising and exhilarating life and romance she never dreamed of having.Where this film shines is not opting for the easy 'perfect endings' and it is a much stronger and more meaningful film for that.
Straight-laced Princeton admissions officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) is caught off-guard when a school administrator of an alternative school (Paul Rudd) pester her for a visit.
It might look inviting on the outside, but until the first bite there is no way to know if it is any good.I went in to this movie expecting a romantic comedy that was more comedy than romance a la Tina Fey. She however stretches her dramatic acting chops even farther than she did in "Baby Mama" where she had the comedic support of another Saturday Night Live actor Amy Poehler.
Admission To get into university nowadays you must make sure your overprotective parents write an exceptional admissions essay on your behalf.However, the admissions officer in this comedy is more focused on the interview process.Inundated with hundreds of applications, Portia (Tina Fey) excels at acceptance; except when it comes to the son she gave up for adoption.Invited home to speak to an eclectic classroom taught by a progressive professor, John (Paul Rudd), Portia is introduced to a savant (Nat Wolff) who John claims is her estranged son.Blinded by her emotions, Portia admits her alleged offspring into Princeton, despite the fact that his poor marks mar her chances of succeeding her boss (Wallace Shawn).An uneven adaptation of the novel, Admission permits its dramatic adoption narrative to be rebuffed by excessive class clowning.Incidentally, it's cheaper to meet the child you gave up for adoption after they graduate university.Red Light vidiotreviews.blogspot.com.
The jokes wasn't that funny and we have seen Paul Rudd and Tina Fey, play these type of roles many times.
ADMISSION (2013) *** Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Lily Tomlin, Gloria Reubens, Wallace Shawn, Michael Sheen, Nat Wolf, Travaris Spears, Sonya Walger, Olek Krupa.
Her serious approach to her work is complicated by a competition with her inner-office rival (Gloria Reuben) and by a going-nowhere relationship with Michael Sheen.All of that sounds pretty straight-forward, so it takes a left turn when Portia makes a campus visit to the Quest School, an experimental campus run by ultimate good guy John Pressman (Paul Rudd).
Tina Fey plays the world's worst admissions officer who is being heckled by a teacher, played by Paul Rudd, to admit one of his "prodigy" students into Princeton.
ADMISSION would fit in the latter category, with an antagonist so neurotic you might wonder how she got her stuffy job – an admissions officer at Princeton University – in the first place.Tina Fey's Portia Nathan is so frustrated and frantic stuck in a dead-end relationship with a boring professor she's subconsciously dying for a love interest to spark up her life.
Creative elements, like spoken-of characters appearing who aren't really there – especially during the final admissions process where Portia strategically tries getting Jeremiah in the door – add to the indie flavor of a film misleadingly promoted as a romantic comedy.Of the side cast, Paul Rudd's relationship with his adopted black child is sweet but ultimately pointless, while Lily Tomlin, as Portia's stubborn mother, who, like Glenn Close in THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, years earlier wrote a book on feminism and found a random "sperm donor" to create her child, tries hard to steal scenes, but Tina Fey does a good enough job carrying a simple story that, for better or worse, she owns entirely..
The likable Tina Fey and Paul Rudd did play the parts well, and I found myself liking their characters and wanting more.
Like many others, I suspect, I expected an uproarious laugh-a-minute satire of the capricious college admissions process, somewhat in the vein of "Back of School", especially with the supremely talented Tina Fey in the lead.
John Pressman (Paul Rudd) runs the school and wants one of his exceptional students, Jeremiah (Nat Wolff) to attend Princeton.Portia's mother is played by Lily Tomlin, who I thought was dead because I don't watch a lot of TV shows.
Tina Fey has always been an actress I've admired ever since she started in the film business, granted she's no Meryl Streep or Audrey Hepburn, but there's a lot of untapped talent there, she deserves the chance at bigger roles like her co-star Paul Rudd did starring as the titular character in Ant Man. Rudd is a good actor and seems to thrive in these kind of films, Ant Man was probably punching above his weight somewhat, but throw him into a cheesy rom-com or general comedy film and he excels.
Directed by Paul Weitz, "Admission" stars Tina Fey as Portia Nathan, an Admissions Officer at Princeton University.
Working better as a drama than a romantic comedy - Fey, primarily a comedian, handles the film's last act tragedies very well - the film co-stars the always awesome Lily Tomlin, and a puppy-dog faced Paul Rudd.7.9/10 – Worth one viewing..
Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) is an admissions officer at Princeton.
Portia then meets John Pressman (Paul Rudd) who further upends her life with the news that one of his students, Jeremiah, may be the child Portia gave up for adoption years before, and could she help him with his Princeton admission.
It also feels like Paul Rudd and Tina Fey should have good chemistry together, but they just do not.
Not a great movie but a nice story.SPOILERS: John presents something which makes Portia believe Jeremiah is her actual son, she had given a baby up for adoption when she was still in college 17 years earlier.
The chemistry between Tina Fey and Paul Rudd is phenomenal and is considered one of the best parts of the film as the majority of the interactions between characters are certainly believable, which gives the film a bit of extra charm that other dramatic comedies can't match.This is certainly one realistic take on the process of applying to a prestigious college such as Princeton.
Tina Fey and Paul Rudd are big enough stars in the comedy world to carry a film like this.
However, one of the most redemptive thing in the film are the scenes featuring Tomlin and Fey.Admission is a lesson in "just okay." Everything about the movie is average at best.
It is a real shame because I like both Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.