I had low expectations for "Dead Man on Campus", a MTV-produced comedy that showed all signs of being a mediocre teen flick with predictable sexual innuendo and sight gags; the only reason it ended up in my VCR was because it was either the video or studying. :)
The protagonists (serious student Tom Everett Scott and hedonistic reveller Mark-Paul Gosselaar) of the show certainly understand the horrors involved with the latter, desperately seeking a suicidal roommate to invoke the long-forgotten school rule of "roommate offs self, traumatised surviving student gets straight A's". While the ads seem to predict to a series comic situations arising from the search, the film also reveals itself to be a buddy flick, and surprisingly, a contemporary fable.
The gags are standard fare, with occassional moments of unexpected hilarity from psychotic roommate-candidate #1, played by Lochlyn Munro (Scary Movie). The theme of the film is low-brow, but the absurdity of the situations bar the audience from any feelings of guilty conscience. In addition, instead of descending into immorality, there is a surprising show of heart by both leads, the first choosing to resuscitate a friend who really does attempt suicide, and the other declaring his loyalty when the former attempts to jump off a bridge. Ultimately, that's what the theme of the film boils down to: friendship.
"Dead Man on Campus" is a affable college buddy flick disguised as gross-out-teen-gagfest, though it manages to amuse and warm the heart without being overwrought. One of the better teen movies to date.
The protagonists (serious student Tom Everett Scott and hedonistic reveller Mark-Paul Gosselaar) of the show certainly understand the horrors involved with the latter, desperately seeking a suicidal roommate to invoke the long-forgotten school rule of "roommate offs self, traumatised surviving student gets straight A's". While the ads seem to predict to a series comic situations arising from the search, the film also reveals itself to be a buddy flick, and surprisingly, a contemporary fable.
The gags are standard fare, with occassional moments of unexpected hilarity from psychotic roommate-candidate #1, played by Lochlyn Munro (Scary Movie). The theme of the film is low-brow, but the absurdity of the situations bar the audience from any feelings of guilty conscience. In addition, instead of descending into immorality, there is a surprising show of heart by both leads, the first choosing to resuscitate a friend who really does attempt suicide, and the other declaring his loyalty when the former attempts to jump off a bridge. Ultimately, that's what the theme of the film boils down to: friendship.
"Dead Man on Campus" is a affable college buddy flick disguised as gross-out-teen-gagfest, though it manages to amuse and warm the heart without being overwrought. One of the better teen movies to date.