With Honors

Premise: In a rush to photocopy his thesis after his computer crashes, Monty (Brendan Fraser) drops his thesis, and it falls into the hands of Simon (Joe Pesci), a homeless man doing his best impersonation of Walt Whitman. Simon blackmails Monty for food and shelter in exchange for pages of his thesis.

I won't lie to you, this film fostered my ideas of what university would be like for a good many years. Now, ten years after it came out, I am in university and a little bit jealous that things aren't quite like that . . . yet.

Of course, I still love the movie. It's one of those comedy dramas in that it starts out as a comedy, but, somewhere along the way, it turns into a drama (e.g. Pleasantville). And that is a tricky genre. Tricky because if the sentimentality of the drama is in any way forced, then it negates the comedy and, thus, the entire picture. Tricky, I say, tricky.

But, worry ye not, for it succeeds! Whoever the screenwriter is, their work is a gem. So what if Fraser and his love interest Moira Kelly don't have any chemistry! The main relationship is the one between Simon and Monty, and it sparkles. It's just how it should be, each using the other for what is missing, learning about themselves along the way. A nice warm fuzzy.

Besides, Patrick Dempsey as Everett and Josh Hamilton as Jeff are entertaining as the other roommates in this Ozzie and Harriet meets the Odd Couple household.

So, watch it with Kleenex. I always do.