Harvard Man
Some lessons can't be taught in the classroom.
Harvard's star basketball player, Alan (Adrian Grenier), is pushing his luck. He must hide one girlfriend, Cindy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the daughter of a mob boss, from his other girlfriend, Chesney (Joey Lauren Adams), his promiscuous Philosophy professor. Alan's escapades finally catch up with him when his family faces dire financial difficulty. To remedy the situation, Alan asks Cindy to approach her mobster father for a loan. He offers the money on one condition: throw the next game. While Alan contemplates the idea, he must juggle two girlfriends, deal with the mob, and face the FBI.
Member Reviews
Give It A "Passing" Grade - c4th
I wasn’t sure if Harvard Man would turn out to be a Risky Business clone or a basketball version of Eight Men Out. Turns out I was wrong on both accounts. In Harvard Man, writer and director James Tobac attempts to weave a complex plot involving the intertwined relationships among five identifiable groups of people.
All the characters are connected through Alan Jensen, college student and point guard on the Harvard basketball team. Now you would think among his parents, college friends, family, philosophy professor, girlfriend, her mafia father or the FBI some likeable character would emerge. Not so in this story. One by one, Tobac assigns dislikeable traits to each of them. Alan is a pothead looking to try new drugs. He drives home to seemingly good parents after a tornado strike feeling a responsibility to help. They insensitively respond “You Should go back to where you belong.” His team mate and roomy initially seems pleasant, well mannered and grounded until he suddenly pulls out a gun and makes threatening gestures given little provocation. Even the two FBI agents are far from benign.
The convoluted plot composed of major subplots poorly connected by the writing and editing and absent of characters for viewers to like and respect make Harvard Man a disappointing piece to watch but Tobac’s decision to play out an acid trip experienced by the main character for a full twenty eight minutes (Yes, I mean twenty eight minutes of movie time.) actually made the experience painful. It was a nice try to give the audience an opportunity on some small level to share his temporary psychosis but on another level one has to keep it a pleasant experience for the viewer. It wasn’t. The visual effects were cool and the intrusive audio drove home the point but it quite simply went on way too long.
My advice? Give this movie a “passing” grade. Pass on any decision to rent it that is!
Member Reviews
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Give It A "Passing" Grade - c4th
I wasn’t sure if Harvard Man would turn out to be a Risky Business clone or a basketball version of Eight Men Out. Turns out I was wrong on both accounts. In Harvard Man, writer and director James Tobac attempts to weave a complex plot involving the intertwined ...