Surely we need a good dumb comedy right now. But not “School for Scoundrels.”
The movie’s a bummer despite its ingredients: the kid from “Napoleon Dynamite,” the director of “Old School,” and Billy Bob Thornton. How could it miss?
This one is a loose remake of a 1960 British film of the same title. Jon Heder, ditching the frizzy hair and glasses from “Napoleon Dynamite,” plays shy, hapless Roger, a parking meter reader in New York, tongue-tied around his neighbor (Jacinda Barrett) and kicked around by the rest of the world.
All this changes when he is enlisted to join a secret class taught by the mysterious Dr. P, played by Thornton. The class is full of wussies who are tired of being doormats. Dr. P’s wisdom counsels that these boys need to transform themselves into lions – which means lying and cheating to get what they want.
The twist, and it’s not much of one, comes after Roger manages to ask his neighbor on a date. Dr. P, who clearly takes his own advice, goes after the young woman himself, apparently just to assert his status as head of the pride.
There should be some opportunities for comedy along the way, but only the broad physical stuff works: a paintball melee with no rules and a tennis game that degenerates into point-blank nastiness.
Some talented comedians swim around the margins of the movie, grabbing at whatever isolated moments they can create. Sarah Silverman is a nasty roommate, David Cross (“Arrested Development”) is a satisfied graduate of Dr. P’s class, and Todd Louiso, Horatio Sanz and Matt Walsh are Roger’s classmates.
Near the end, Ben Stiller (who starred for director Todd Phillips in “Starsky &Hutch”) tries to inject some absurdity into the mix. But it’s too late.
You expect some fun nastiness from Billy Bob Thornton, even if this isn’t “Bad Santa” (it’s PG-13, for one thing). Thornton can sling around the insults, although he’s not on screen long enough. It should be noted that his weirdly smooth forehead is alarming.
The big disappointment is Jon Heder. As a huge fan of “Napoleon Dynamite,” I was looking forward to seeing him in sweet leading roles, but either he’s not ready or Phillips isn’t the director to coax a strong performance out of him.
Gangly and slack-jawed, he looks like he wandered in by accident. Better luck next time, if there is a next time.
Billy Bob Thornton (left), Jacinda Barrett and Jon Heder star in “School for Scoundrels.”
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