Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
In the hope of winning the woman of his dreams, Amanda, lovelorn meter-reader Roger Wadell enrolls in a secret confidence-building class. The course's title takes on much more meaning when he discovers that his egomaniacal professor Dr. P also wants the same woman. They begin a fierce rivalry that quickly spirals out of control, their pranks and insults get uglier as they try to prove who is the ultimate guy's guy.
School for Scoundrels is a middling comedy remake that follows a predictable rivalry-and-romance arc without much surprise. The premise of a confidence-building class hijacked by an egomaniacal instructor has some comedic potential, and the cast (Jon Heder, Billy Bob Thornton) brings enough energy to keep it watchable, but the script is formulaic and the jokes are uneven. Visually, it's a flat, unremarkable studio comedy with no distinctive cinematographic identity. The ending resolves in a thoroughly conventional way. There's little here that distinguishes it from dozens of similar mid-2000s comedies, making it a forgettable if occasionally amusing watch.