Paul Weitz’ “Admission” could have been a really good, genuine comedy/drama about motherhood and parenting. It stars Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, two actors capable of doing intelligent and authentic comedy. Unfortunately, they are let down by the movie, which goes down the conventional, contrived and broad romantic-comedy path.
Trying too hard
Fey plays Portia Nathan, who’s set up in typical rom-com fashion. She is an admissions officer for prestigious Princeton University. She lives a simple and boring life, and she’s determined and hardworking but also works too much. She’s rigid and also bitter when it comes to children. She’s been at her same job for 16 years and for good reason. Admissions officers need to be tough and not get emotionally attached to applicants.
Rudd plays John Pressman, a nice guy who runs a developmental high school and wants Portia to check it out. John all about living in the moment and making spontaneous decisions. He likes to help people (he travels around the world doing things like building wells in Africa) and has an adopted Ugandan son.
So, here we have two ideal rom-com protagonists, both with great qualities and also flaws. It’s only a matter of time before they do their little dance and eventually fall in love, right?
But then comes Jeremiah (Nat Wolfe), a student from John’s school. John thinks he has potential to go to Princeton, but Jeremiah doesn’t fit the black-and-white definition of Princeton material. He’s incredibly smart and well-read but is also weird and doesn’t have a great transcript.
To thicken the plot, there’s a possibility that Jeremiah could be Portia’s son (we find out that she gave up a baby when she was a teenager), and her whole world gets turned upside-down.
Now, despite the cliché-ness of that last sentence, the movie, if handled seriously, could have lifted the “Admission” out of its rom-com setup and inevitable finish. And there are moments, brief flashes, where Weitz and screenwriter Karen Croner (it’s based on a book by Jean Hanff Korelitz) try to do that, like in a scene where Portia goes to a college party (where she sticks waaay out) to “check up on” Jeremiah, who doesn’t know what’s going on. It’s a funny moment but also feels really honest and sincere — it’s not just a typical rom-com scene.
And there are other genuine and funny moments like that sprinkled throughout. But, for the most part, we get utterly lame, artificial attempts at broad comedy, like in a scene where Portia and John get covered in cow placenta (don’t ask). It’s like Weitz and company are worried they’ll lose the audience if they don’t throw in a joke every two minutes — they’re simply trying too hard to be funny.
Actors ‘better than this’
Fey is sadly hit-and-miss. She actually handles the serious stuff rather well and has her moments comically; she’s especially good at creating embarrassing situations for herself or being in situations where she tries to do the right thing but ends up making it worse.
But then, you see her in the scenes like with the cow placenta and think to yourself: ‘Tina, you’re better than this. Why are you subjecting yourself to this lazy nonsense?”
Rudd on the other hand is just…bland. He’s likable, as always, and like Fey, he handles some of the serious stuff fairly well. But, overall, the script doesn’t give him a lot to do comedy-wise.
Pretty soon all hope is lost, as “Admission” settles into rom-com movie autopilot. The third act is languorous and contrived. A sort-of plot twist involving Jeremiah comes too late to make any sort of impact.
And then comes the forced, thrown-together ending that you could have called right from the start. “Admission” had potential, but ultimately it’s a disappointment.
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