Fey and Rudd Go Back To College in 'Admission'

 

TINA FEY & PAUL RUDD

Tina Fey ( 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live) is widely known as one of the best and funniest comedic actresses of her generation.

Paul Rudd (This is 40)  has made a career out of being ‘that guy’ in several romantic comedies.

Teamed up these two should deliver a helluva funny movie.

Hmmmm!  While there are a few chuckles in their latest movie, Admission, out nationwide March 22, it falls short in the funny bone department.

Admission (Focus Features), a Paul Weitz Film, is about the surprising detours people encounter on the road to happiness.

Fey play Portia Nathan, a Princeton University admissions office whose life is a hot mess.

TINA FEY & LILY TOMLIN

First, out of the blue, her boyfriend leaves her for another woman. She has a ball buster for a mother, played with hilarity and flair by Lily Tomlin.

When Clarence (Wallace Shawn) the Dean of Admissions, announces that he’s retiring, she has to compete with an office rival named Corinne (Gloria Reuben) for the job.

GLORIA REUBEN

Then, after meeting John Pressman (Rudd), a former classmate and idealistic teacher at New Quest, Nathan is thrown for a loop and her job is put in jeopardy after Pressman delivers some life-changing information.  Pressman invited Nathan to New Quest, specifically, to meet a young man named Jeremiah (Nat Wolff), who he thinks is special and has the goods to be a success at Princeton.

 NAT WOLFF

After Nathan finds out some life-changing information about Jeremiah, Nathan finds herself in a quandary.

To be fair, the movie isn't bad, it's just not as funny as it should be with a cast that includes Fey, Rudd and Tomlin, who, for her part, does deliver the goods.

Unfortunately, the movie never really finds its groove. It starts to drag toward the middle and never corrects itself.  While they are adequate in their performances, Fey and Rudd were handcuffed by a script that doesn’t find its focus.

On the Donloe Scale: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likeable), O (OK) and E (excellent), Admission, Rated PG-13, gets an L (likeable).