School for Scoundrels (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	103:16
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (53:52)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Todd Phillips
Studio Distributor	The Weinstein Co. Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Billy Bob Thornton Jon Heder Jacinda Barrett Michael Clarke Duncan Sarah Silverman David Cross Matt Walsh Horatio Sanz Todd Louiso Jon Glaser Paul Scheer Ben Stiller Luis Guzmán
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Christophe Beck

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes, Constantly!
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    Roger (Jon Heder) is a nervous wreck. He's scared of virtually everybody and faints from panic attacks at the first sign of any danger. On the advice of a friend who once suffered a similar disposition (David Cross), Roger fronts up $5000 and starts attending a secret class to toughen up wussy men. The class is instructed by Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton), a suave, lying, cheating bully who isn't a terribly nice fellow, but certainly gets what he wants. Dr. P teaches the class to think of themselves as animals in a game - the only way to win this game is to be leader of the pack, whatever it takes.

    Roger soon finds himself top of the class. He drums up the courage to ask out the girl next door (Jacinda Barrett), despite her flatmate's (Sarah Silverman) defence, and is finally excelling at his job as a meter-maid. Unfortunately for Roger, Dr. P sees this as competition and is ready to compete. In the blink of an eye, Dr. P ruins Roger's career and steals his girl. With the help of some classmates and a previous victim of Dr. P's games, the burnt out cat-man Lonnie (Ben Stiller), Roger sets out to win it all back...

    School For Scoundrels is a bit of a mixed bag. The story is incredibly weak and clunkily laid out to boot, but the gags are decent enough that the story doesn't matter too much. The characters are no more than worn stereotypes, but Heder and Thornton are entertaining enough to cover up the inadequate roles they have been dished. The comedy is big, loud and very Hollywood. The net result is an reasonably entertaining way to dispose of 90 minutes and nothing more. Though reasonably fun while it lasts, you will have completely forgotten School For Scoundrels within a week.

Video

    The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The video generally looks very good. It is sharp. Shadows and dark scenes look good. A thin layer of film grain is noticeable throughout, but does not detract from the image at all.

    The colour in the film is very bold and natural.

    There are no noticeable MPEG compression issues with the video. A handful of film artefacts are present throughout, though none are bigger than a couple of pixels.

    English subtitles for the hearing impaired are present. They appear accurate and well timed, based on the portion I sampled.

    This is a RSDL disc. The layer break occurs at 53:52 but was not noticeable on my equipment.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The film features an English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 Kbps) track and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track (224 Kbps).

    The dialogue is clearly audible at all times and generally seems well synced, save for a few obvious ADR slips.

    The music in the film is a mix of bog-standard orchestral stuff and indie rock, which suits the film well but does not particularly stand out on its own merit.

    The surrounds are put to decent use for environmental effects, though nothing more than you would typically expect of a Hollywood comedy nowadays. The subwoofer gets very little use, although there isn't much call for it.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    This disc opens with three forced trailers (Happily N'Ever After, TMNT and Lucky You) that cannot be skipped, but features no actual extras.

    This is a big loser for Region 4. Where the R4 edition is devoid of extras, the Region 1 DVD and US HD DVD editions of the film both feature:

• Gag Reel
• Alternate Ending
• Audio Commentary with Todd Phillips (Director) and Scott Armstrong (Writer)
• Making Of Featurette
• Theatrical Trailer

    A disposable Hollywood comedy that offers nothing new, but is entertaining enough to while away a rainy evening.

    The video and audio transfers are up to the standard you would reasonably expect of a recent Hollywood comedy. This disc features no extras.

    School For Scoundrels is worth a rent, but fans looking to buy would do best to look to Region 1.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall