The Freshman (1990)

Suspense, romance and mischievousness

The film has four or five stars acting: Marlon Brando (surprising the audience with revival Don Corleone), Matthew Broderick (an ingenuous outsider student), Penelope Ann Miller (a delicious impostor girl friend of Broderick), Bruno Kirby (a nice New Yorker mob member), and the splendid photography of New York City. Suspense, romance, mischievousness and smart direction of Andrew Bergman. That cannot be lost!
March 30, 2008

A comedic offer you can't refuse

Everyone has their share of hard times as a college freshman. Getting screwed into taking Bio at 8 a.m. on Fridays. Not having a fake I.D. -- and not knowing enough people who do. RA's busting you for partying in your room. The list goes on and on.

Few of us, however, can claim to having as abysmal a start to their collegiate career as Clark Kellogg (Matthew Broderick) in "The Freshman." The naive Clark, who hails from Vermont, is set to attend New York University as the film begins. Shortly after arriving in NYC, he meets alleged cab driver Victor Ray (played by the talented Bruno Kirby, best known for his lead role in "City Slickers"), who promptly steals his luggage. As Clark so aptly puts it in his amusing voice-over narration, "I had been in New York for 19 minutes and 11 seconds, and I was already ruined."

Fortunately (or not) for Clark, his path crosses again with Victor Ray, which leads him to Carmine Sabatini (Marlon Brando), an elderly Italian gentleman who bears a striking resemblance to none other than the Godfather, Don Corleone. Before Clark knows what's happening, he's running errands (possibly illegal) for Carmine, is engaged to his beautiful daughter, and is being followed by federal agents.

The chemistry between Broderick and Brando is one of the movie's strongest points. Broderick is a talented comic actor who's perfect here as the innocent straight man, and Brando is also wonderful in a role that smartly nods to his legendary work in "The Godfather." Check out the scenes where Carmine and Clark drink cappucino, discuss Mussolini and exchange the "kiss of kisses." Priceless stuff.

Aside from Broderick and Brando, "The Freshman" boasts a solid supporting cast with many faces you'll recognize, from the aforementioned Kirby to Penelope Ann Miller ("Carlito's Way") to Frank Whaley, who you may recall from his unfortunate experience of snacking on a Royale With Cheese when Travolta and Samuel L. pay him a visit in "Pulp Fiction." All are solid.

Fans of the "Godfather" trilogy will love this movie and the numerous Godfather references, including several highly amusing scenes in which Clark's film teacher screens and comments on sections of "The Godfather Part II." However, you need not be familiar with the "Godfather" films to enjoy this movie. Writer/Director Andrew Bergman (who also wrote "Fletch" and co-wrote 'Blazing Saddles") has penned a comedy that effectively ranges from slapstick (Clark transporting a komodo dragon) to smart (Mona Lisa and "Godfather" references) to bizarre (supporting character Larry London's observation that "Carmine said one boy. And here are two.")

Considering the film's strong cast and sharp screenplay, fans of Broderick, "The Godfather," and just good comedies in general will want to give this underrated, unpredictable film a look. May 25, 2007

Very funny parody of mafia movies.............

The Freshman is a very funny movie. The central joke is that Marlon Brando plays a godfather type figure in lower Manhattan who for obvious reasons looks exactly like the titular character Brando so famously portrayed. Matthew Broderick is the freshman, an innocent NYU film student, who through some comedic misadventures gets involved with Brando and his "family". The funniest scenes involve a Komodo dragon loose in a New Jersey shopping mall though the whole film is a delightful comedy. The movie has no real violence and though there are a few mild "bad" words the movie is fairly appropriate for viewing by older kids and families. November 19, 2006

A really good movie.

This is a great movie. I love movies that have strong character actor parts. Everyone is alittle over the top and very entertaining. November 3, 2006

histerical

The main charactic basicly has a look of panic about everything that's happening to him. October 6, 2006

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