At first glance, this seems like a routine romantic sitcom tricked out with an upscale plot wrinkle, involving a Princeton University admissions officer named Portia (Tina Fey), a prep school head (Paul Rudd), and the student he’s promoting for admission (Nat Wolff), who may be Portia’s son, given up for adoption years before. Portia’s predicament opens up an attractive field of social satire and other timely laughs built around the “power university” industry and the lengths to which aspirants will go to get in. Director Paul Weitz (
About a Boy, Being Flynn) and screenwriter Karen Croner (adapting a novel by Jean Hanff Korelitz) have their collective finger on the daffy-elite button the whole time, with fine character support by Wallace Shawn, Gloria Reuben, and Michael Sheen. (110 min.)
By
Kelly Vance
See our full review:
About another boy.
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