'Old School' is our generation's 'Animal House'

"Old School" desperately wants to be "National Lampoon's Animal House" (but then again, what campus comedy doesn't?), and will go to any lengths to elicit a guffaw, a chuckle or even a full-on piss-your-pants laugh- attack to prove it. Unlike many other flicks of its ilk, "Old School" actually fulfills this goal despite the occasional snag.\nLuke Wilson ably headlines as the likeably mellow Mitch. After returning home early from a business trip, he's startled to find his girlfriend (Juliette Lewis) hosting an orgy in their bedroom. Soon thereafter, he moves into a new pad bordering the local college campus. Alongside buddies, Frank (Will Ferrell) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn), Mitch conspires to foil a B.S. zoning clause sprung upon them by their former object of scorn and the university's current dean, Pritchard (Jeremy Piven). Their solution: start a multigenerational fraternity. Drunken hijinks and hilarity ensue in this battle of slobs versus snobs.\nOk, so the flick's plot is thinner than Lara Flynn Boyle on Dexatrim. But a comedy such as "Old School" often succeeds primarily in its casting -- and man, what a cast. Ferrell channels the spirit of Belushi as lunkheaded gentle giant, Frank the Tank. Whether bonging beers, shoving children, shooting himself in the jugular with animal tranquilizers or streaking about campus, Ferrell milks even the most absurd moments to their comedic peak. Vaughn is aces, further honing the hilarious smooth-talking jackass persona he established in "Swingers" and "Made." Wilson isn't nearly as funny as his two co-stars, but serves as a solid straight man. Cameos also litter the film. Seann William Scott's bit as a mullet-headed petting zoo wrangler is a hoot and a half, though Craig Kilborn, despite being naturally funny, can't act his way out of a paper sack.\nUnder the freewheeling script (co-written by director Todd Phillips and Scot Armstrong) and deftly comedic direction of Phillips ("Road Trip"), "Old School" is the funniest movie of the New Year -- a hilarious hybrid of "Animal House" and "Fight Club." Those who find the idea of a surly geriatric wrestling two topless co-eds in a baby pool chock-full of KY Jelly funny should see "Old School." All others need not apply.