Film Summary CDXXIV (Mr. Belvedere Goes To College)


This was a disappointment.
Years ago I watched a film called ''Mr. Belvedere rings the bell''. It was a very cute movie, it was sweet it had a lot of heart (despite being this subpar franchise film) it was an all-around unexpectedly fun movie. I had originally watched it merely for the name.  So I decided to go a little backwards and look at one of the earlier mr. Belvedere films.

It just isn't good. The premise is overly ridiculous. Mr. Belvedere is attending college so he can get his diploma to prove to a outlet (or advertising agency) that he has in fact graduated from college. For mr. Belvedere has no form of higher education. He was a self-educated man who never went to school.
But because he's entering College as a freshman he has to deal with bombardments from all the senior students above him. He has to go through a form of canonisation which is just really dumb to watch. You're seeing some arrogant little snot-nosed kid talking to a 40 some year old man as if he was a college Punk.
And then to see Mr. Belvedere actually put up with him. I know it's all meant for comedy but it's just so Unbecoming of everyone involved in the film.
And mr. Belvedere isn't exactly all that great either. He's a jerk in this movie. He's arrogant, self-centered and presumes that his intelligence makes him better than everyone around him.

I get that it's an earlier movie and he hasn't quite had his character Arc or he's learned to be a better person but it's just not easy to watch. Perhaps this movie would have been easier if I hadn't already seen him in a far better film.
And the acting isn't all that great from anybody either. The film is full to the brim with late 40s early 50s Teenage Drama. It's just not that interesting to watch. It's like watching a less developed ''Leave it to Beaver'' for an hour and a half. And I've got nothing against Leave it to Beaver but you can only deal with that show for so long. 20 minute format not so bad; hour long movie. It's becoming annoying.

The movies biggest problem is all the young people. The first 10 minutes of the film are actually kind of enjoyable. Watching Mr. Belvedere prove to all the different College professors that he's intelligent enough to not need High School to be granted entry into their Classices. And perhaps some of his interaction with the kids wouldn't have been so bad either but you have to cut that stuff down.
I came here expecting a fun Mr. Belvedere movie with a kind of arrogant sophisticated but ultimately kind-hearted man. I didn't come here for College shenanigans. If I want that kind of crap I can watch 'Animal House' which does comic College Humour right.

For a man who's supposed to be hyper intelligent he sure is stupid when it comes to basic interaction with a bunch of college nitwits. He keeps doing the work of this one college kid who keeps harassing them for no good reason. At the end of the day the whole College hierarchy doesn't actually exist. It only happens because kids are dumb gullible idiots who don't know how to deal with other dumb gullible idiot. Mr. Belvedere should have slap the kid in the face and told him to screw off or he'll report him to the Dean. Or just call the police on this idiot kid and get him kicked out of the college. I can't stand arrogant self-proclaimed dumbass drama.
Especially when it's played for such cheap comedy. The act of a kid harassing one man is not comedy in itself. Give us a reason to root for the man to overcome the kid or to see what the kids perspective is. Maybe throwing blackmail or some other secondary problem like a love romance. Give me a reason to care about your unorthodox situation.

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