Rob is constantly being bombarded by people telling him “you haven’t seen ____? You gotta check it out.” Or hearing critics rave “this movie is a classic, a must see.” So Rob decided that from now on every time he actually watches one of these flicks, he’ll give us his take on whether the film will live up to the hype or fall short.
So, what’s the deal with Animal House?
Animal House has a lot of build up. So many comedies have parodied or paid homage to the movie that I felt like I had seen the movie before I actually watched it. After finally viewing Animal House, I can see that its well deserved. It is easy to see why so many movies and television shows have taken inspiration from this epitome of a college film.
There were so many scenes that I recognized from this movie even though this was only the first time I had ever seen it. Its really interesting to go back a few decades and watch a movie that you know so much about and have a certain familiarity with and have it entertain you. I really appreciated the dry, almost absurdist, humor style that the movie employed. I even went into the special features of the disc and watched the piece about how Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney, and Chris Miller wrote the movie and found it very insightful.
A thing that I found odd was that I had always thought Jon Belushi was the main character. I realize that he was probably focused on because he unfortunately passed away early in life and also because he had some very memorable scenes. The scene where he gives his rallying speech, runs out of the room, and comes back in defeated was hilarious and one of my favorites. I thought the ensemble cast made more sense while I was watching the film though, and a lot of the characters seemed like they each had their own niche in the house.
I would sum up the deal with Animal House as: If you like comedies, you’ll like Animal House. It fits in well with the style of its fellow National Lampoon film, Vacation.