From wild parties, to pledging fraternities, and other antics, college comedies explore the funny things about college – from scholastic competitions, to new romantic relationships, to coming-of-age stories.
Here are 10 great movies to check out!
- Accepted
In 2006, Justin Long was a part of the growing norm of high-concept comedies, especially in the college setting. Accepted has a peculiar premise: When Long’s character faces rejection from all the colleges he applied to, he starts a fake college near his house, where many rejects and misfits attend the facade until the whole scheme backfires. Many laughs here and there, along with a wild and eccentric cast of characters.
The Waterboy
The Waterboy follows Adam Sandler as goofball Bobby Boucher, a momma’s boy who works as a college football team’s waterboy. But when he gets hired by the college’s rival, and shows how violent he can be when someone teases him, he gets promoted to linebacker on the football team, provided that he goes to school there. All in all, The Waterboy is a laugh-out-loud comedy, courtesy of Adam Sandler.
- The House Bunny
The House Bunny stars Anna Faris as Shelley, a young lady who gets thrown out of the Playboy Mansion, and becomes the house mother at a sorority of misfits and self-loathers, to whom she gives fabulous makeovers that transform them into the talks of their institution. With plenty of slapstick and toilet humor, The House Bunny makes a pretty good college-themed comedy.
- Neighbors
Talk about a normal white-picket-fence couple versus a frat house full of rowdy college boys! Seth Rogen and Zac Efron go head to head in Neighbors, a movie about a couple going to great lengths to shut down the frat house, much to the dismay of the fraternity.
- 22 Jump Street
With the success of its predecessor 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street has the two leads- Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill – going undercover as students at a high school to going undercover at a university. While Tatum’s character is loving the college life, Hill’s character is cautious, which paves the way for dude-bro hijinks.
- Life Of The Party
Melissa McCarthy goes back to school as Deanna in Life of the Party, when husband (Matt Walsh) dumps her when they drop their daughter off at her sorority for senior year. Of course, Deanna enrolls in her daughter’s school, and moves into the sorority. From there, she experiences themed partying, hazing, and dating a guy half her age.
- Drumline
Despite following the college sports drama trope of an inspirational figure (i.e. an underestimated player or a daring coach) helping the underdog to victory, Drumline is a comedy about competitive college marching bands. Nick Cannon is a new-to-college street drummer Devon who shows people what he’s made of with his drum skills.
- Animal House
1978’s Animal House – under the “National Lampoon” banner – was, and still is, the staple of college comedies. This frat movie captures the rude humor of both campus Greek life and National Lampoon. From frat guys running from the “scary” African-American guys, to Bluto’s Peeping Tom antics, and the “funny twist” about how someone was totally unaware that he was having an affair with a 13-year-old girl, Animal House hasn’t aged a bit.
- Old School
Old School not only has a flare of nostalgia for audiences, but also has a lot of crude humor and college-bro antics. A guy (Luke Wilson) leaves his cheating wife and moves right next to a college. After being told that the house is zoned for students-only housing, he and his friends (Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell) turns it into a frat house. Ferrell’s role as the eccentric, booze-drinking Frank the Tank became his breakout movie role, and spawned many memes and tropes.
- Real Genius
Val Kilmer – the king of weird before Christopher Walken and Nicolas Cage became walking memes – shines in Real Genius. Kilmer plays a chilled-out, super-genius developing a high-powered laser for a prestigious institution. But when an evil professor plans to use the laser as a military weapon, Kilmer and his buddies plan to derail the professor’s intentions. A sci-fi take on college, Real Genius is filled with many absurd pranks inspired by science.
Conclusion
With college continuing to be regular premise in many comedies, these 10 movies are proof of this genre. So, if you’re looking for a good laugh, check them out, and have fun!
Kristin Herman writes and edits at Academized.com and Australianhelp.com. She is also a contributing writer for sites like Paperfellows.com. As a tech enthusiast, she blogs about trending tech news. And, as a project manager, she oversees business projects nationwide.