When every college turned them down. . . they made one up.|Aug. 18, 2006|USA|93 Min.|PG-13
Genre: Comedy
Description: Bartleby Gaines, a senior at William McKinley High School in Wickliffe, Ohio, is known for his persuasive skills and pranks, such as creating fake IDs. Despite his talents, his academic performance is poor, leading to rejection letters from all the colleges he applied to, including those with high acceptance rates. In an attempt to win his demanding father’s approval, Bartleby invents a fake college called the South Harmon Institute of Technology (SHIT).
With the help of his best friend, Sherman Schrader III, who has been accepted into his father’s prestigious alma mater, Harmon College, Bartleby enlists other rejected students to join his scheme. This includes Rory Thayer, who only applied to Yale and was rejected due to legacy preferences; Darryl “Hands” Holloway, who lost his athletic scholarship after an injury; and Glen, who has a low GPA and failed his SAT due to poor academic performance. To make the college seem legitimate, Bartleby convinces Sherman to create a functional website for the school.
When his father insists on meeting the dean, Bartleby hires Sherman’s eccentric uncle, Dr. Ben Lewis, a former philosophy professor at Harmon College, to play the role. He also leases an abandoned psychiatric hospital near Harmon College and renovates it to resemble a college campus. However, their plan takes an unexpected turn when the website automatically accepts hundreds of other rejected students.
Realizing these students have nowhere else to go, Bartleby decides to let them believe the school is real, offering them a place where they finally feel accepted, despite objections from his friends. After a visit to Harmon College disillusioned him with traditional college life, Bartleby allows the students to create their own curriculum. This includes a wide range of subjects, from culinary arts and sculpting to meditation and even unconventional courses like psychokinesis, which one eccentric student is eager to study.
Cast director: Steve Pink
Cast actor: Justin Long, Jonah Hill, Blake Lively, Adam Herschman, Columbus Short, Maria Thayer, Lewis Black, Jim O’Heir, Mark Derwin, Ann Cusack
Original name: Accepted