As I stated in my "Anchorman" review, I find that Will Ferrell goes too over the top in certain roles. Thankfully, in "Old School," there's a happy medium, as he gets to play a quiet, restrained character who has a tendency to go out of control at times. It's a perfect role for Will Ferrell. Too bad it's a shame the film itself isn't perfect.

The story: After Mitch comes home to find his wife engaging in various sexual acts, he winds up moving into a house on a college campus. Wanting to let loose and have some good old fashioned fun, Mitch, Frank, and Beanie decide to start a fraternity. Their fun does not last for long, however, as the Dean tries to throw Mitch and company out of the house. Will the gang be able to get the house back? "Old School" is one of those comedies that has plenty of laugh out loud moments (earmuffs, streaking, any scene with Blue) but also a lot of wasted potential. The film starts out promising enough with a simplistic frat-house premise ripe for comedic gold, but the story quickly fizzles out to a forced and down-right silly conclusion. It seemed to me that writers Todd Phillips and Scot Armstrong were building up the story to a big finale, but couldn't quite figure out what to do. Clearly, a few re-writes would have strengthened the film tremendously. Thankfully, the cast more than make up for the film's flaws. Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn are the stand out performers here as their characters are the most layered and deliver the most laughs. That's not to say that the rest of the cast isn't notable. On the contrary, Luke Wilson, Craig Kilborn, Jeremy Piven and the rest of the cast are all solid in their roles. Note: TV fans keep an eye out for Terry O'Quinn (Locke from "Lost"), Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey from "Grey's Anatomy") and Rob Corrdry ("The Daily Show").

The widescreen picture quality is certainly clear and is a big step up from the DVD, but I felt the colors looked a little faded and not as sharp as they could have been. Again, the English 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus audio track is generally clear, but it doesn't quite have the HD quality sound that I've grown accustomed to. My main issue with the track is that it sounds relatively soft and never really comes to life.

Much like the "Anchorman" HD-DVD, this disc contains the same extras as the uncut DVD. The extras include: * 3 TV spots and a theatrical trailer. * 4 1/2 minutes of outtakes and bloopers. * A typical 13 minute featurette that sells the movie titled "Old School Orientation." * 8 cutting room floor scenes. * A 13 1/2 minute "Inside The Actors Studio Spoof" with Will Ferrell as James Lipton. How Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and Todd Phillips refrained from cracking up is anyone's guess. * The highlight of the extras turned out to be the commentary track by Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Todd Phillips. I hate to say it, but I laughed harder at the commentary than I did while watching the film. The gang talks about everything from a porno tape, Luke's various hairstyles, Ferrell's double chin and his real football style tackle. Easily one of the best commentary tracks I have heard in a long while.

"Old School" is by no means a comedy classic, nor is it anywhere near as funny as the film it clearly imitates ("Animal House"), but it's worth a purchase if you can find it at a reasonable price.