Accepted parents guide

Accepted Parent Guide

Overall D

After being rejected by numerous collages and universities, Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long) attempts to avoid disappointing his parents by presenting them with a phony letter claiming he's Accepted. But his little fib leads to a multitude of others and forces him to carry the ruse to ridiculous measures.

Release date August 17, 2006

Violence B-
Sexual Content C
Profanity D
Substance Use D+

Why is Accepted rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Accepted PG-13 For language, sexual material and drug content.

Run Time: 90 minutes

Parent Movie Review

It’s no secret that getting into a good college is tougher than ever, and Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long) finds that out for himself when he doesn’t make the grade. Making matters worse, within his family’s high-minded social circles, the high school senior is seen as a severe disappointment. Desperate to want to please his folks and remove the pressures of failure, Bartleby decides to scan the logo from one of the dozen rejections in his bedroom, make a few creative changes, and present his parents with a glorious (although phony) acceptance letter from the newly born South Harmon Institute of Technology.

Yet it will take more evidence than that to convince his suspicious father (Mark Derwin). So Bartleby calls on Sherman (Jonah Hill), one of his peers who was accepted into the real Harmon College, to build a website capable of making his dad believe the unknown school is the real deal. Of course the ruse only becomes more complex when his parents want to drop by the institution and meet the dean. Involving more college-rejected friends, including doper Glen (Adam Herschman), artsy Hands (Columbus Short), and keener Rory (Maria Thayer), along with one of the buddy’s relatives (Lewis Black) to act as the institution’s dean, the kids manage to fool Mr. and Mrs. Gaines.

The problem is their website fools a few others too. Soon legions of other B-grade hopefuls arrive at the hastily renovated mental hospital to seek a college education. With a bag full of $10,000 tuition checks from dozens of dumb rich kids, Bartleby and his gang of misfits eye a tempting profit within their falsehood. But when the true dean of Harmon College gets wind of what’s happening, he begins his own mission to expose the scam.

Squarely aimed at a teen audience, this film promotes the idea that educational institutions are far too particular about who they accept and the programs they teach. Still, describing Bartleby’s creation as a “liberal arts” college would be a gross understatement. Classes on this school’s calendar include a course in cooking with illicit substances, artistic body painting, and observing girls floating in the school’s swimming pool.

Along with these questionable themes, this film offers dozens of expletives and profanities, sexual comments, scenes involving drinking, references alluding to illegal drug use, and dozens of women in bikinis (which appears to be the school uniform for females). Finally, the screenwriter’s attempt to bring the ending in touch with some form of reality is so implausible it inadvertently becomes the funniest aspect of the movie. Consequentially, parents are likely to find many reasons to stamp Accepted as rejected.

Starring Justin Long, Jonah Hill. Running time: 90 minutes. Theatrical release August 17, 2006. Updated

Accepted
Rating & Content Info

Why is Accepted rated PG-13? Accepted is rated PG-13 by the MPAA For language, sexual material and drug content.

This PG-13 teen movie is riddled with profanities, and a popular scatological term being used obsessively throughout (it also forms the school’s acronym, and is seen in print many more times). Other crude anatomical references and two sexual expletives (the second one is bleeped) are heard. Many moments of sexual innuendo along with women in bikinis and talk of sexual activity are included, as are scenes of alcohol use and verbal references to illicit drugs. An adult, who was a former teacher, admits he was fired for making sexual comments to female students. Violence includes a highly stereotyped obese young man who is hazed by a sorority (we don’t actually see the physical abuse, only the results), a school administrator’s car being blown up (supposedly by a young man who has learned to manipulate matter with his brain), and other accidental and slapstick antics.

Page last updated

Accepted Parents' Guide

Justin Long, the actor playing the principal character in this film, is supposed to be a high school senior, yet in reality he is 28 years old. Why are directors who make movies about high school students so reluctant to use actors who are in their teens? Do you think we are more accepting of seeing teens doing illegal and sexually questionable activities if they look like adults?

Are post-secondary schools too “picky” about who is accepted? What other educational opportunities are available aside from college and university?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Accepted movie is November 13, 2006. Here are some details…

Accepted comes to DVD with the following extracurricular activities: A commentary by actors Lewis Black, Justin Long, Jonah Hill, Adam Herschman and director Steve Pink, deleted scenes, the making-of featurette Reject Rejection and the featurette Adam’s Accepted Chronicles. Also supplied are the music videos Hangin’ On The Half Pipe and Keepin’ Your Head Up. Over-achievers can interact on the Self Guided Campus Tour, while the MP3 crowd can plug in the DVD-ROM bonus extras and catch the tunes B Goes To BKE, Uncle Ben’s Theme, B and Hoyt Showdown, Party At BKE, Monica, and B Kisses Monica. Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio tracks are available in English, French and Spanish, with subtitles in English (SDH), French, and Spanish.

Related home video titles:

A dedicated teacher helps some under privileged students prepare for university acceptance by teaching them AP Calculus, in the inspirational, based-on-a-true-story, film Stand and Deliver. A lot can be gained from the stereotypical depictions of teens in the movie where a group of enterprising young teens decide to steal the answers to a college entrance exam in order to get The Perfect Score.