In his feature directorial debut, Hart Bochner shows some visual flair and a sense of tempo. Unfortunately, the pranks don’t match composer Steve Vai’s resourceful music. But despite some memorable vignettes, the film’s climax, a huge party in which George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic perform, is not very satisfying. “PCU” tries to capture the comic energy and surreal fun that pix like “House Party” and “National Lampoon’s Animal House” had. For instance, the feminists, outraged at a student who dared to bed a white male, protest against “penis parties” and demand to be called women instead of girls. True to form, “PCU” dispenses an exaggerated view of college culture but also reveals a sensitive ear to its current lingo and ambiance. And few people on campus, including the board of trustees, can tolerate the stuffy, rigid president (Jessica Walter), who eventually gets her comeuppance during the school’s bicentennial ceremonies. Into this chaos arrives Tom (Chris Young), a handsome pre-freshman totally unprepared for life on the treacherous campus, which is torn apart by Rand (“Saturday Night Live’s” David Spade), a spoiled brat who leads the wealthy Republican fraternity the Womynists, headed by a humorless feminist, and other militant clubs.ĭespite diverse causes, however, all factions are united in their hatred of the Pit and their wish to shut it down. The gang resides at the Pit, a vibrantly messy dorm that embraces smoking and drinking and dismisses recycling and sympathy for murdered animals.
At the center is a coed gang whose anarchic leader, Droz (Jeremy Piven), encourages any form of offensive and bizarre behavior.
It’s a campus divided into so many protest groups that students have no time to attend classes. Leff and Penn have set their yarn at the fictional Port Chester University, no doubt standing in for Wesleyan, their alma mater.
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