OxfordPress.com

Grade: D

Verdict: This film lacks class and laughs.

Details: Starring Tom Green, Jason Lee and Leslie Mann. Directed by Bruce McCulloch. Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language and drug references. One hour, 23 minutes.

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Review: "Stealing Harvard" is hardly Ivy League material. The silly caper comedy starring alleged funnyman Tom Green belongs in the corner, wearing a dunce cap.

Green, the Canadian shock comic who made his feature directorial, writing and starring debut with the worst film of 2001, Freddy Got Fingered, receives top billing. However, "Stealing Harvard"'s lead role is portrayed by Jason Lee, a likeable actor who has co-starred in most of Kevin Smith's movies, along with Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous."

For Green, the film might be a slight step forward, but for Lee, it's a huge stumble back.

"Stealing Harvard" was filmed in early 2001 and originally was scheduled for release last spring. It has since had three additional release dates and six different titles. As in school, being left back rarely is the sign of an overachiever — or even an average achiever.

Laughs are as few and far between as rainy days this summer in Dayton, making the film's scant 83-minute length feel like the equivalent of a three-hour lecture. Enjoyment depends whether you find Green's jittery weirdo shtick amusing or annoying.

Put us in the latter camp — as close to the exit as possible, please.

John Plummer (Lee) is a good-hearted average Joe who works for his girlfriend Elaine's father at a medical supply store. John and Elaine (Leslie Mann) — who may kindly be called "difficult," although the other characters prefer a harsher term — are preparing to marry, having reached their goal of saving $30,000 for a down payment on a house.

But as coincidence — or rather, contrivance — would have it, John is reminded by his trailer-park-dwelling sister, Patty (Megan Mullally), of his long-forgotten promise to pay for his beloved niece Noreen's (Tammy Blanchard) college tuition should she get into a good school. Accepted at Harvard University, Noreen can cover much of the cost alone with her savings and financial aid. But she still needs — you guessed it, $30,000.

Unable to disappoint either woman, John turns to his oddball best friend Duff (Green) for help. The hapless pair embark on a lame-brained life of crime in attempt to raise the additional cash. Their bumbling efforts aren't nearly so futile as those of the filmmakers.

Directed by Bruce McCulloch, a member of the Canadian comedy troupe the Kids in the Hall whose behind-the-camera credits include the "Saturday Night Live" spinoff "Superstar," "Stealing Harvard" is a sophomoric farce with weak gags failing to make the grade.

The screenplay, credited to Peter Tolan ("Analyze This"), fails to even make sense. Why does Elaine cry during sex with John, and why does landscaper Duff rip up healthy shrubs to replace them with dead ones? No clue, but apparently it's supposed to be funny.

Dennis Farina and John C. McGinley are typecast as Elaine's overprotective father and an overzealous cop, respectively. McCulloch makes a cameo appearance as a lawyer.

Painfully dumb, "Stealing Harvard" won't be head of the box-office class.

— Dave Larsen, Cox News Service