Stealing Harvard review

Everyman John Plummer (Jason Lee) needs to raise $30,000 to send his niece to Harvard. With no honest means of amassing the moolah, he turns to best mate Duff (Tom Green)... And then to crime.

Everyone knows that it's damn hard to make a good movie. So many disparate elements, so many egos, so many unseen pitfalls. But the makers of Stealing Harvard lose any sympathy by: a) casting Jason Lee as their lead (the guy has Supporting Foil stamped on his forehead) and b) giving him Tom `bloody' Green as a sidekick.

This pair could murder a Preston Sturges screenplay, so imagine the collateral damage of letting them loose on the scribblings of Peter Tolan, the man behind Analyze That. Gags disappear into the yawning gap that separates Lee's blandness and Green's hyper-tomfoolery, while Dennis Farina, drifting in the wings, just looks embarrassed to be sharing screen space with them. Still, at least the bland MOR soundtrack drowns out the sound of crickets chirruping where the laughs should be.