Comedy starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd. Portia Nathan, the admissions officer at a top university, has clear ideas about which students she chooses to accept. But when a boy arrives who might have a personal link to Portia's past, her normally unwavering judgement is thrown into turmoil.
Three years after Date Night, between writing and starring in 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live, comedian Tina Fey finds time to venture back onto the big screen. This time, though, it hardly seems worth the bother. She plays Portia, an admissions officer at an Ivy League university who gets all in a twist with her ethics and emotions when she discovers that one of the high-school students she must vet for entry could be the son she secretly gave up for adoption. Her performance is fine and there's quality support from Paul Rudd as the headmaster with a special interest in the case - and in Portia. Lily Tomlin and Michael Sheen also help anchor the story, but it eventually slips between the cracks of comedy and drama by trying to do too much. There are chuckles and moving moments, just not enough of them. For writer/director Paul Weitz (the man behind About a Boy) it's a case of must do better.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Portia Nathan | Tina Fey |
| John Pressman | Paul Rudd |
| Mark | Michael Sheen |
| Clarence | Wallace Shawn |
| Jeremiah | Nat Wolff |
| Corinne | Gloria Reuben |
| Nelson | Travaris Spears |
| Susannah | Lily Tomlin |
| Helen | Sonya Walger |
| Christopher Flynn | Brian d'Arcy James |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Paul Weitz |
