harrydoyle

I really don't think so. If anyone has a movie that they think fits, I'd love to hear it. But I think there's a great movie, an All-American drama type (or maybe it's more a TV show) out there about the great American college experience. I'm not talking about a straight comedy.

devilshalo

You'd probably run up against college sports type movies like The Program & Rudy.

bhk

I can't think of any. Of course it would be boring seeing someone study 4-5 hours a day(which is what my college experience consisted of).

Groucho

PCU is probably the most representative of my college experience.

BravesMG

That sounds about right for me too. I'm about as far from PCU as possible, I think the closest would be Brenden Frazer in With Honors when he was doing his thesis. Except that I lived in an apartment about the size of the bathroom he watched Moira Kelly shower in

Nuff

I think the problem is the "college experience" varies *so* much from college to college and person to person. I went to a small Ivy League college with about 5k undergrads and was on the fencing team so that dominated my time. Somone who went to a 50k undergrad school and had no involvement in athletics would have had a completely different experience.

CKMorpheus

I actually feel that Rules of Attraction pretty mimics the college experience... maybe a little less sadistic.

rw2516

The Paper Chase

RichC2

There's not really a typical college experience, there's always going to be extremes (those who stay-in and study constantly, those who go out, get wasted, and get laid every night). So encompassing both ends, I haven't really seen a lot of movies, but the sheer joy that you never quite realize until it's gone is definitely there in most of em.

maxinquaye

although the kids were a hell of a lot more pretentious than anyone i ever knew, i always thought KICKING & SCREAMING was a pretty good portrait of the college experience- especially that time right when/near when it ends and you realize you have no idea what comes next.

and no, i'm not talking about the will ferrell movie...

NatrlBornThrllr

Agreed.

DoubleDownAgain

Animal House?

Hiro11

That and "Undeclared".

Shilex

I also think Undeclared was pretty dead-on as far as college depictions go. Maybe a little less zany.

Ranger

higher learning.

even though it was sorta biased, i thought it was a pretty good movie and kinda realistic about college life.

harrydoyle

I understand what you're saying about the everyone having a unique college experience, but I guess my point is that the college movies tend to gravitate towards the extremes...especially the silly but sometimes the dark. I guess what I'm envisioning is a college movie with a Dazed and Confused type tone and variety of characters. I'm not saying mimic the format (doesn't need to be all one day, doesn't need to have anything to do with drugs), but tone and characters.

Josh-da-man

Mostly bits and pieces.

"Higher Learning" captured some of the alienation a lot of students go through. (Esp. in regard to the guy who joined the Nazis.)

"Rules of Attraction" showed a lot of the craziness that goes on.

"PCU" was a decent example of the divisiveness between the various cliques and groups. While it's a comedy, there's a lot of truth in it.

And "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (TV) showed, in its fourth season, the disconnect you have between your old friends when you go to college, esp. between the ones who go to college and the ones who don't.

Actually, "Animal House" mirrors a lot of my college experience. It wasn't a fraternity, but an off-campus apartment complex I lived in. Just fucking full of crazy motherfuckers. I was sort of a cross between Bluto and D-Day, but with a 3.9 GPA. (Goddamned B in Calculus.)

Mopower

I remember one time in college we thought we had shot the Deans horse. But it was just a car backfiring! The horse still died! Must have been from a heart attack. That was a wacky semester!

jeffkjoe

I think Sure Thing captures the dorm room life well.

Arpeggi

Kicking and Screaming (post-college)?

NoirFan

The scene in which people drunkenly shuffle to and warble along with "Buffalo Soldier" by Bob Marley sums up college in about five seconds.

Breakfast with Girls

Undeclared (TV) was most similar for me. We did a few more pranks and stuff than I recall from that show, but overall it was very close.

Tenacious D

Not a movie, but I'm with the people that said Undeclared was realistic for them. There were several times when I was watching that series where I was able to make parallels with my own college experiences.