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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

ANIMAL HOUSE



There's really not much to say about the plot. The film is basically about a bunch of College students called "The Deltas" who cause nothing but mischief throughout their whole entire College career as we go from one comical moment to another. With that said, the majority of the film's plot is the rivalry between the Delta's and the hot tempered Dean of the college who tries to pull them off campus as the Delta's rebelled against him. The plot is so simple, so easy to follow, so straightforward and juggles the characters subplots so well that I'm glad this comedy is not trying to be complex, have drama (Well, ok, when there is drama, but it's still treated in a comical way) or heck, even have a moral, it's only purpose is to make us laugh and root for these College rebels and that's exactly what the film did.



All the characters in this movie are so funny and so much fun that it's hard not to like or laugh at any of them. First, you have Tim Matheson as Eric "Otter" Stratton who's great with the ladies and knows how to give them a good time. Just leave it all to him when it comes to finding girls. James Widdoes as Robert Hoover, the smartest of the Delta's always gets a good, funny speech every once in a while, especially when standing up to the villain. Peter Riegert as Donald "Boon" Schoenstein is always enjoyable and fun and his struggling relationship with his girlfriend Katy (Karen Allen) is actually the relationship in the movie that I actually felt for and found interesting (Not saying the others aren't). Tom Hulce as Larry "Pinto" Kroger is a funny, shy and innocent character and his relationship with a girl he meets at the Supermarket has a twist that's sick while treated funny at the same time. Stephen Furst as Kent "Flounder" Dorfman again just as funny and likable as all the characters as this overweight loser. Then there's Bruce McGill as D-Day who's just downright hilarious and stupid in every scene he's in. The villains such as James Daughton as Gregory "Greg" Marmalard the leader of the house next to the Delta's;  Mark Metcalf as Douglas C. Neidermeyer who' from a Military family; and of course John Vernon as the hot headed Dean Wormer are so much fun and hateful that you just got to love to hate them and root for whenever the Delta's prank them and get revenge on them. The rest of the supporting characters are all great such as Donald Sutherland  as the lame Professor Dave Jennings, Verna Bloom as Mrs.Wormer, the two teenage girls Mandy Pepperidge and Barbara Sue "Babs" Jansen, Kevin Bacon as Chip Diller, Douglas Kenney as Stork, and the rest of the cast are just so funny and great for their roles. Best character and performance in the whole film, hands down, is John Belushi as John "Bluto" Blutarsky. His energy, timing, facial expressions, and behaviors are just so funny and memorable that he steals the show in whatever scene he's in.


Like I said, the film is nothing but a bunch of jokes that go from one crazy scene to another. There are so many great scenes and moments in the film, that I might as well just be making a list of favorite moments from the film. You got the "Toga Party" with Otis Day And The Knights that features a cameo of Robert Cray in the band; the sabotage on the parade; the road trip; the supermarket scene' the food fight scene; the prank with the horse; Bluto's speech; the guys getting drunk; and so many other great moments that I could go on and talk about them forever. I even love that the film even tells us what happens to these fun characters after the film before we head to the credits. The film also has a great soundtrack with both an original musical score and some classic 60's rock songs and boy does it work in every scene it's used for.

"Animal House" has always made me laugh since the day I saw this film and even now I can still find a lot of new and fun things to appreciate and love about this movie. It never gets old, never gets dull, and it just keeps getting funnier and funnier and funnier with each viewing. For me, I personally think this is one of the best comedies of all time! This is indeed a MUST SEE comedy!

RATING 5/5

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