The Freshman

The Freshman is a very funny movie. It has a great story and a very good cast. It also gives us a chance to watch Marlon Brando do some of his finest work. I enjoyed this movie very much.

Matthew Broderick plays his usual, disinterested blank-faced self, in the clothes of a new college student who gets himself involved by happenstance with the Godfather himself (Marlon Brando). The worst thing about The Freshman is that the godfather himself does not do a good impression of the godfather anymore. And i'll give you a dollar if you can understand a single word he says. The best thing about The Freshman are the jokes about The Godfather: "gee, you look a hellova lot like... ." They're hysterical, and lots of fun if you're a fan of the fim. Highlight: the film class scene where Broderick's lecturer salivates over The Godfather II as he talks about it, then plays a clip from it, and we see him mouthing the words along to it. Lots of fun. Worth a rental to see that scene alone. This is not a good entry in the "fun situation comedy" genre, however. 5/10.

The Freshman is a very funny movie. It has a great story and a very good cast. It also gives us a chance to watch Marlon Brando do some of his finest work. I enjoyed this movie very much.

A nice self-referential comedy about a first-year film student in New York City who gets involved with an "importer" (Marlon Brando) who turns out to be a Mafia kingpin. This is probably the only opportunity you will ever get to see Marlon Brando (whose ego is as large as his stomach) poke fun at his own image, which was created back in 1972 with "The Godfather." Here Brando essentially plays Don Vito Corlone, and everyone knows it, and it works. Sometimes it's like watching a comedy sequel to the trilogy. My only wish? That Robert De Niro had appeared in a small cameo. (Trivia note: De Niro and Brando are the only two actors to ever achieve Oscars for playing the same characters.) Also, Bruno Kirby is in this. Bruno Kirby was in "The Godfather Part II," which starred Robert De Niro as Vito Corlone, who Brando played in the original. Talk about coincidental links. 3/5 stars. John Ulmer

Hilarious comedy from the talented Andrew Bergman about a New York film student who meets and falls in line with a "Godfather," lookalike...played by "The Godfather," himself, Brando in a wonderfully juicy role. Broderick is good, as always along with a great supporting cast of Kirby and Miller.

THE FRESHMAN (1990) *** Matthew Broderick, Marlon Brando, Penelope Ann Miller, Bruno Kirby, Frank Whaley, Maximillian Schell, Paul Benedict, BD Wong, Jon Polito. Rollickingly funny comedy with film school freshman (Broderick at his blithering best) put upon by con man Kirby by being offered a gopher job for a dead ringer of Don Corleone (Brando, in an inspired send up of his icon role and clearly enjoying every minute) involving an endangered species restaurant! Witty, hilarious and out there. Best bit: Bert Parks singing Bob Dylan's "Maggie's Farm" to a King Komodo Dragon (!) Written and directed by Andrew Bergman.