An R-rated college comedy?

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, August 17, 2006

A rowdy college comedy bristling with rebellious attitude and an anti-authority message … wait a minute, it’s rated PG-13? Aw, man, what’s the point?

There is something amiss with our society when the big college comedy of the season doesn’t have an R rating. John Belushi must be spinning in his grave.

“Accepted” wants to bang the gong for youth culture, but it barely sounds a note. And its premise is so wholly unbelievable that “Animal House” and “Old School” begin to seem a lot more credible in retrospect.

But here goes. High school grad Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long) fails in his efforts at college admission. Instead of disappointing his parents, he bands together with a group of fellow rejects and invents a school to enroll in: South Harmon Institute of Technology.

Unfortunately, the mock Web site for South Harmon (we’ll skip using the acronym) is functional, and it not only fools Bartleby’s dad, it fools a few hundred applicants. With the tuition money rolling in, Bartleby and his pals can afford to rent an abandoned mental hospital and make it look like a campus building.

In order to keep the ruse going, they hire a cranky ex-academic to be the “dean” of the place. He’s played by Lewis Black, the comic and “Daily Show” regular, and he has a few trademark moments of exasperated bluster.

The movie tries to transition from goofy comedy to beat-the-system commentary by suggesting that South Harmon’s student-designed classes (scrawled in Magic Markers on a board) are just as legitimate as the stuffy curriculum of real academia. There’s even a big “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” scene at the end when Bartleby justifies their hang-loose attitude as a healthy alternative to what used to be called “the system.”

All of which would be easier to cheer on if the movie were funny. Director Steve Pink, a John Cusack crony who co-wrote “Grosse Pointe Blank” and “High Fidelity,” wants to get across the message, but he’s less sure with finding the comic spots in the uneven script.

At times, likable Justin Long gets some laughs out of thin air, with a style that looks suspiciously improvisational. He used to be on the TV show “Ed,” and he’s paid enough dues with supporting roles (such as “Dodgeball” and “The Break-Up”) that he’s earned a shot at the offbeat leading man role. He’s the brightest thing in the picture.

Maria Thayer (“Strangers with Candy”) and Adam Herschman are fun as Bartleby’s sidekicks, and Blake Lively (“Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”) is a real comer as the love interest.

Presumably Bartleby is named for Herman Melville’s great literary anti-hero, a man who opted out of life by repeating the phrase, “I would prefer not to.” This movie would like to similarly drop out, but it’s hard to care.

Columbus Short (left), Justin Long, Adam Herschman and Jonah Hill in “Accepted.”