'Old School' goes new school on DVD

"Old School" desperately wants to be "National Lampoon's Animal House," and it will go to any lengths to elicit a full-on, piss-your-pants laugh attack to prove it. Rightfully, it was a big hit in theaters. With a new unrated DVD, it's that much better. Well mostly, viewers are "treated" to additional helpings of Will Ferrell's bare ass.\nLuke Wilson headlines as the likeably mellow Mitch. After returning home 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 (Ferrell) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn), Mitch conspires to foil a bullshit zoning clause brought about by their former object of scorn and the university's current Dean (Jeremy Piven). Their solution: start a multigenerational fraternity. Unsurprisingly, drunken hijinks and hilarity ensue.\nSo, the flick's plot is thinner than Lara Flynn Boyle on Dexatrim. But comedies such as "Old School" succeed primarily through casting -- and man, what a cast. The DVD works much in the same way. Wilson, Ferrell and Vaughn, alongside co-writer/director Todd Phillips, participate actively on the disc. \nThe aforementioned are all featured on a rather entertaining commentary track dominated by a self-deprecatingly self-involved Wilson and a prototypically goofy Ferrell. Strangely, Vaughn barely registers, and he's best known for his loud-mouthed shtick. Everyone also takes part in an "Inside the Actors Studio" spoof where Ferrell reprises his James Lipton caricature ala "SNL." Much like its source material, the skit's damned funny. Lastly, there's eight deleted scenes, most of which are hilariously propelled by Vaughn's smooth-talking jackass persona.\n"Old School" is the best comedy I've seen this year. As such, the DVD is the perfect complement to a night of couch-bound drinking with the buddies.