RBR: Admission (Quick hits version)

So there have been a lot of films that I have seen over the past few months that I never got around to reviewing for one reason or another. I am going to try and knock them all out in a row right now. Given that most of these films aren't in theaters any more, I won't do lengthy reviews. But at least you get to hear my thoughts on them anyways. So here goes nothing...

Tina Fey has earned fame and acclaim for her brand of smart comedy. Whether it was being on SNL or 30 Rock, making films like Mean Girls, or writing one of her successful books, she has managed to find the funny in an intelligent manner. For that reason, I am dumbfounded to see her associate herself with such dumb material like this film. What's even more baffling is that her character works for one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Fey plays an admissions counselor for Princeton. For someone responsible for evaluating the lives and merits of others, the decisions she makes in her own life are highly questionable. After breaking up with her boyfriend (Michael Sheen, doing a rather unfunny running gag of always showing up at inopportune times) she learns that she may have found a son that she gave up for adoption at birth thanks to Paul Rudd who teaches the boy at a progressive charter school. Fey's actions dealing with this potential son do not yield much laughs nor warmth. You just sit there wondering why anyone thought this material was good. Even character actors like Wallace Shaw and Lily Tomlin get wasted here. Now that 30 Rock is over, there were high hopes that Fey would make a successful transition to film, but if she continues to do projects like this she better hope to get a new job in TV real soon. Rating: ** 1/2