“Admission” should have had it all. With an interesting premise and strong leads in Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, this movie could have been an hour and 50 minutes of entertaining laughs and heartfelt moments. However, due to screenwriter Karen Croner’s painfully trite writing, the film fell flat.
Based on a novel of the same name by Jean Hanff Korelitz, “Admission” tells the story of Princeton University admissions officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey), who navigates the madness Ivy League schools inspire in students and parents with ease as she selects the next class of incoming freshmen. In comes John Pressman (Paul Rudd), the principal of an alternative high school, who believes that a student from his school applying to Princeton is Portia’s son, who she gave up at birth. As the plot become more complicated, and the sparks between Portia and John begin to fly, Portia must figure out what she truly wants from life, all the while juggling the mountain of applications that continue to flood into her office.
Despite its intriguing premise, the fractured, haphazard screenplay drags the story down. Introducing fairly irrelevant plots, like John’s difficulties connecting with his son, the story becomes weighted down with frankly uninteresting, predictable plots that take valuable time from the main storyline of the film. Yet, Portia’s story is not without serious flaws, which, during the second half of the movie, turn Fey’s character from likable and interesting to stilted and ultimately unethical.
Though the script does have serious problems, performances by Fey, Rudd and supporting actors like Lily Tomlin, who plays Portia’s mother Susannah, help save the film. The incredibly talented Fey, whose work on SNL, “Mean Girls,” “Baby Mama” and “30 Rock” shows her ability to play quirky yet lovable characters, is witty and clever through most of the film, and her exchanges with Rudd and Tomlin are some of the best parts of the movie. Rudd gives a strong performance as well, managing to take an almost too perfect character and make him relatable and likeable. Tomlin, as Portia’s gun-wielding, militant feminist mother, is absolutely hilarious, and her one-liners provide comic relief in dramatic scenes.
This film’s great strength lies in its portrayal of the maniacal process of admission to an Ivy League school, and it perfectly portrays the absolute madness that students and parents succumb to in order to secure a coveted place at an elite school. From the groups of eager students to the constant questions about “the secret to getting accepted,” the film gives an uncannily accurate view into the minds of those applying to these schools. The film’s darkly funny method of having students whose applications are being read appear, ghostlike, in the room, and then subsequently drop through a trapdoor when they are rejected, adds some humor into a serious topic.
With a few instances of strong language, the movie earns its PG-13 rating, and is suited for older teens, who will appreciate the stress of the college admissions process, and adults.
Though this film has some strengths, it seems to stretch on far longer than its run time, and the clichéd ending in particular drags on and on. Don’t waste your time or money on watching this one.
by KAVYA PATHAK
