Kicking & Crashing

UNIVERSAL REMOTE

The Legacy of Old School lives on. It may seem from my earlier post that I only like high-brow classic films, but I love a good comedy as much as the next guy. Tod Phillips' Old School is one of my all-time favorites and is significant for resurrecting the career of Vince Vaughn and showing the true potential of Will Ferrell. This summer, these two alums each star in new comedies, and both look absolutely hilarious.

Vince teams up with Owen Wilson in The Wedding Crashers and Will takes on little league soccer in Kicking & Screaming. Judging by the trailers for each, my expectations are going to be almost impossibly high.

The makers of Crashers were exactly right in making Wilson the sincere one that falls for the girl and Vaughn as the sarcastic one who is tortured by the clinger. (I almost shudder to think if the roles were reversed and Vaughn was the one falling in love. Any laughs created would certainly be unintentional.) Vaughn's greatest asset, and the source of his most memorable moments, are his little asides. One of my favorites is from Old School when, dressed as a clown for his kid's birthday party, he tells a pledge to put the head to his costume back on. "You don't see me breaking the fourth wall," he says. Brilliant.

Ferrell's strength is his explosive comic rage. The best part of the K&S trailer is at the end. Weaing power sunglasses, he orders one of the parents to take a lap. Looking at his stopwatch, he yells after him: "Faster!" This is the joke I'm going to be looking forward to the most. And the fact that Robert Duvall plays his father puts it over the top for me. Duvall is probably the best actor working today and the friction he is sure to develop with Will is sure to be priceless.