School for Scoundrels

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School for Scoundrels

PG-13,

2006,

1h 40m,

Romance/

Comedy

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Watchlist

26%

138 Reviews

Tomatometer

52%

100,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

26%

Tomatometer

138 Reviews

52%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

In the hope of winning the woman of his dreams, Amanda (Jacinda Barrett), a lovelorn meter-reader (Jon Heder) enrolls in a confidence-building class. The course's title takes on much more meaning when he discovers that he and his egomaniacal professor Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton) both love the beautiful woman. They begin a fierce rivalry that quickly spirals out of control, their pranks and insults get uglier as they try to prove who is the ultimate guy's guy.

Critics Consensus

School for Scoundrels squanders its talented cast with a formulaic, unfocused attempt at a romantic comedy that's neither romantic nor funny.

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Brian Tallerico

UGO

Mar 24, 2007

You might want to sign up for study hall instead.

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Anthony Quinn

Independent (UK)

Feb 23, 2007

2/5

The comic sallies and set-pieces are very much at the wrong end of the bang-whimper spectrum.

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Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Feb 23, 2007

Wearily spins straw out of its none-too-original premise.

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Toni Vall

Cinemanía (Spain)

Jul 17, 2019

3/5

More goofy than caustic. [Full review in Spanish]

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Joshua Starnes

ComingSoon.net

Mar 30, 2011

6/10

School for Scoundrels has some solid opportunities for real dark comedy, but blows most of them for maudlin romantic-comedy tripe, and the ones it does go for it never takes far enough.

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Jane Boursaw

Common Sense Media

Jan 1, 2011

1/5

Dismal comedy about nerds trying to be cool.

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Harry R

Mar 16, 2019

Jon Heder plays his typecast socially awkward character and has in almost all of his movies since Napoleon Dynamite and Billy Bob Thornton plays his normal really mean character but putting them together surprisingly works. Watching it was like seeing Bad Santa and Napoleon Dynamite meeting each other for the first time. The ending was very satisfying because Billy Bob Thornton's character learns his lesson and it was really nice seeing him get revenge served to him

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Ron R

Jun 12, 2017

This movie is funny in some parts and Billy Bob Thornton's performance is amazing, as expected. However, certain skits and jokes seem to be dragged out past the point of being tolerable. Even at a fairly short 100 minutes, this movie feels like it's 10 minutes longer than it really has to be.

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Han S

Jun 6, 2017

Pretty funny, and solid performances from the entire cast. It just doesn't stand out, but it is different than your usual comedy and the supporting cast is a bunch of talented comedians today, including some of the best out there. It's worth a watch especially since its on Netflix.

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Draco R

Jun 4, 2017

This was a standout performance for Stiller, though he was a relatively minor character. Truly the best character I've ever seen him perform. The rest of the movie has its ebbs and flows, but director Todd Phillips is able to pull off a very underappreciated dark romantic comedy.

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Rey L

May 28, 2017

2017-05-28 pretty stupid

Han L

Jun 9, 2013

Has Some Decent (Slapstick - Balls In The Groin) Laughs, But Isn't Consistent. Very Hit & Miss. I Found The Australian Love Interest Just Bland & Boring, Didn't Even See The Attraction For Both Suitors, She's A Cruddy Actor. Jon Heder Also Still Can't Shake His Napoleon Dynamite Tag, He Comes Across As The Goof-Ball Guy All Good, But Somewhat Misses His Mark..Stealing Lobsters Even Felt Like The 'Caught You A Delicious Sea-Bass' Moment - Aka. Napoleon.

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Todd Phillips

Director

Billy Bob Thornton

Dr. P

Jon Heder

Roger

Jacinda Barrett

Amanda

Michael Clarke Duncan

Lesher

Luis Guzmán

Sergeant Moorehead

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Synopsis

In the hope of winning the woman of his dreams, Amanda (Jacinda Barrett), a lovelorn meter-reader (Jon Heder) enrolls in a confidence-building class. The course's title takes on much more meaning when he discovers that he and his egomaniacal professor Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton) both love the beautiful woman. They begin a fierce rivalry that quickly spirals out of control, their pranks and insults get uglier as they try to prove who is the ultimate guy's guy.

Director: Todd Phillips
Producer: Daniel Goldberg, J. Geyer Kosinski
Screenwriter: Scot Armstrong
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Dimension Films, Media Talent Group, Weinstein Company
Rating: PG-13 (Language|Crude and Sexual Content|Some Violence)
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 29, 2006, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $17.8M
Runtime: 1h 40m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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