Accepted

This article is about the film. For the general concept, see Acceptance.

Accepted
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Steve Pink
Produced by	Tom Shadyac Michael Bostick
Screenplay by	Adam Cooper Bill Collage Mark Perez
Story by	Mark Perez
Starring	Justin Long Jonah Hill Blake Lively Anthony Heald Lewis Black
Music by	David Schommer
Cinematography	Matthew F. Leonetti
Editing by	Scott Hill
Studio	Shady Acres Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	August 18, 2006 (2006-08-18)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$23 million
Box office	$38,505,009

Accepted is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Steve Pink and written by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, and Mark Perez. The main plot centers around a group of would-be college freshmen who create their own "college" after being rejected from all the public colleges and universities for which they had already applied.

Plot

Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long) is a persuasive high-school senior who, among other pranks, creates fake IDs. His gifts do not extend to grades, however, and he receives rejection letters from all of the universities and colleges to which he applies, including those with high acceptance rates. In an attempt to seek approval from his strict father (Mark Derwin), Bartleby creates a fake college, the South Harmon Institute of Technology (S.H.I.T.). He is aided by his best friend, Sherman Schrader III (Jonah Hill), who has been accepted into the prestigious Harmon College, and fellow rejects Rory Thayer(Maria Thayer), a hard-working girl who, due to prevalence of nepotism, failed to get in to Yale University, the only school she applied to, Hands Holloway(Columbus Short), who lost his athletic scholarship after an injury, and Glen (Adam Herschman), who got a "0" on the SAT when he neglected to sign his name.

To make the "college" seem legitimate, Bartleby convinces Sherman to create a fully functional Web site for the school. When his domineering father insists on meeting the dean, Bartleby hires Schrader's uncle, Ben Lewis (Lewis Black), a former educator, to play that role, and he also leases an abandoned psychiatric hospital adjacent to Harmon College and renovates it to look like a college campus. The seemingly innocent ploy quickly spins out of control when the Web site, which automatically accepts any applicant, enrolls hundreds of other rejected students. Bartleby realizes that these people have nowhere else to go, so he lets them believe that the school is real, a place where they will finally feel accepted. After a visit to Harmon disenchants him with traditional college life, he has the students make up their own classes and be their own teachers. Students write down what they want to learn on a giant whiteboard, with classes ranging from the culinary arts and sculpting to "Taking a Walk and Thinking about Stuff," "Foreign Affairs: Hooking Up Overseas," "Rock Our Faces Off 222," and the invention of one freaky kid (Jeremy Howard) who wants to learn how to "blow shit up...with my mind." Bartleby even goes so far as to create a school newspaper (the S.H.I.T. Rag) and a mascot (the S.H.I.T. Sandwiches).

Meanwhile, the dean of nearby Harmon College, Richard Van Horne (Anthony Heald), makes plans to construct the Van Horne Gateway, an adjacent park-like "verdant buffer zone" by which the dean hopes "to keep knowledge in, and ignorance out." He dispatches Hoyt Ambrose (Travis Van Winkle) to free up the nearby properties, but when Bartleby refuses to relinquish the lease for the South Harmon property, Hoyt sets to work trying to reveal the college as a fake. The dispute turns personal, since Bartleby has been vying for the affections of Hoyt's ex-girlfriend, Monica Moreland (Blake Lively). Hoyt exposes South Harmon as a fake institution through Sherman, who is attempting to join Hoyt's fraternity as a legacy, but is treated with humiliation and abuse by his fraternity brothers. After having Sherman beaten up, Hoyt forces him to hand over all the files he has created for South Harmon. He then contacts all the students' parents to expose the school as a fake. Soon after, the Institute is shut down, but Sherman's having taken the initiative to file for accreditation gives Bartleby a chance to make his school legitimate.

At the State of Ohio educational accreditation hearing, Bartleby makes an impassioned speech about the failures of conventional education and the importance of following one's own passions instead of being dictated on what to do, convincing the board to grant his school a one-year probation to test his new system. The Institute reopens, with more students enrolling, including Sherman and Monica. Also, Bartleby finally earns the approval of his father, who is proud that his son actually owns a college. As the film closes, Van Horne is seen walking to his car in the Harmon College parking lot, only to watch it suddenly explode. The "mind-blowing" freak from earlier in the film is revealed as the culprit.

Cast

• Justin Long as Bartleby Lee Gaines
• Jonah Hill as Sherman Schrader
• Blake Lively as Monica Moreland
• Anthony Heald as Dean Richard Van Horne
• Lewis Black as Ben Lewis
• Travis Van Winkle as Hoyt Ambrose
• Diora Baird as Kiki
• Adam Herschman as Glen
• Maria Thayer as Rory Thayer
• Columbus Short as Hands Holloway
• Mark Derwin as Jack Gaines
• Ann Cusack as Diane Gaines
• Hannah Marks as Lizzie Gaines
• Joe Hursley as Maurice / The Ringers
• Sam Horrigan as Mike Welsh
• Robin Lord Taylor as Abernathy Darwin Dunlap
• Jeremy Howard as Freaky student
• Kaitlin Doubleday as Gwynn
• Ross Patterson as Mike McNaughton
• Kellan Lutz as Dwayne
• Brendan Miller as Wayne
• Ray Santiago as Princeton boy
• Greg Sestero as a frat boy (uncredited)

Release

Critical response

Accepted was released to mixed reviews with an average score of 37% from Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 111 critics. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus states "like its characters who aren’t able to meet their potential, Accepted's inconsistent and ridiculous plot gets annoying, despite a few laughs." At Metacritic 47% based on reviews from 27 select critics. It received 3 out of 5 stars from Allmovie.

Box office

The film opened at No. 5 at the U.S. box office making $10,023,835 in its opening weekend, behind Snakes on a Plane, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby's third weekend, World Trade Center's second, and Step Up's second.

By the end of its run on October 19, 2006, Accepted had grossed $36,323,505 domestically and $2,181,504 internationally, adding up to a worldwide total of $38,505,009

Home media

The film was released on DVD on November 14, 2006, in both widescreen and fullscreen formats. The DVD came supplied with deleted scenes and a gag reel. Accepted was also one of the films released on HD DVD format before the format was discontinued.

Soundtrack

Accepted (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by Various
Released	August 8, 2006
Label	Shout Factory

1. "U-Mass" by Pixies
2. "Gravity Rides Everything" by Modest Mouse
3. "The Hives Declare Guerre Nucleaire" by The Hives
4. "Bole 2 Harlem" by Bole 2 Harlem
5. "Eleanor Rigby" by David Schommer featuring David Jensen (originally by The Beatles)
6. "TKO" by Le Tigre
7. "Where Do I Begin" by The Chemical Brothers feat. Beth Orton
8. "Sherman's Way" by David Schommer
9. "Keepin' Your Head Up" by The Ringers
10. "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by David Schommer (Originally by Simple Minds)
11. "Holiday" by Weezer
12. "Let The Drummer Kick" by Citizen Cope
13. "To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)" by Ryan Adams
14. "You Think We Suck" by Ape Fight

Other songs not included on the soundtrack:

• "Close to Me" by The Cure plays in Bartleby's room whenever the disco ball comes down
• "Holiday" by Green Day. There has been some confusion over the fact that Weezer and Green Day each have a song by the title "Holiday" in the film, but only the Weezer song is on the official soundtrack.
• "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones. Played at a party held at South Harmon, and Bartleby sings the majority of it on stage. The DVD also features a music video of the song featuring the cast and crew.
• "Blitzkrieg Bop" by Justin Long with The Ringers
• "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac is played during the high school graduation party.
• "I'm Better" by Scott Thomas
• "Sweet Confusion" by Divine Right (band)
• "Spotlight" by The Ringers
• "Walkin' the Walk" by The Daniel May Quartet
• "String Quartet in G, Opus 18" by FLUX Quartet
• "Bridges and Balloons" by Joanna Newsom

See also

• Camp Nowhere
• F.A.L.T.U.

External links

• Official website
• Accepted at the Internet Movie Database
• Accepted at AllRovi
• Accepted at the TCM Movie Database
• Accepted at Box Office Mojo
• Accepted at Rotten Tomatoes
• Accepted at Metacritic