Pledge This! is a new film from National Lampoon, and this installment follows along the lines of the other films--a simple plot, good actors, a paper-thin love story, plenty of sight gags, and some sort of villain. This film, however, takes the equation one step further with its quirky characters. The film stars Paris Hilton (House of Wax, The Hillz), Simon Rex (Scary Movie 3, Shriek if You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th), Sarah Carter (Final Destination 2), Paula Garces (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Clockstoppers), Geoffrey Arend (The Ringer, Bubble Boy) and many other young, up-and-coming actors and actresses.
Victoria English (Paris Hilton) is the wealthy, snobbish president of Gamma Gamma sorority at South Beach University in Miami, Florida. When Victoria learns that FHM Magazine is nominating them for "Best Sorority of the Year", Victoria plots to have more "diversified" co-eds pledge her sorority to integrate her all-blonde and wealthy sorority. One of Victoria's pledges, Kristen Haas (Sarah Carter), suggests they pledge her ex-friend Gloria (Paula Garces) and six of her misfit dorm mates; DJ spinner Monique; an Indian exchange student nicknamed PooPoo; divorcée Kathy, who is seeking to relive her youth by going back to college; fat Southern belle Maxine; weird goth girl Babs; and lesbian chick Tonya. The seven pledges are force to go through the most outrageous initiations to be accepted. But when they learn that it was all an act just to get the front cover of FHM magazine, Gloria teams up with Victoria's boyfriend, Derek (Simon Rex), to settle the score.
Surprisingly, the acting in Pledge This! is quite solid, but the script is pretty lacking. It just does overused clichés one after another until we hit the extremely obvious ending. However, the clichés are actually most of what makes this movie work. If this tried to be some original romantic comedy, I couldn't see it working on any level whatsoever. I wasn't expecting much from Paris Hilton, as I had seen her in House of Wax and her acting was so wooden and boring that, basically, I wanted to throw up. However, Paris Hilton somehow manages to surprise and this is supposed to be direct-to-video fare! I've never really thought that Paris Hilton was very attractive, but in Pledge This!, the lighting, outfits, and hair style that Paris is given really make her stand out. Simon Rex was great as usual--he has rapidly become one of my favorite actors through the very few films that I have seen him in. His acting style is always hysterically funny, and the movie was worth watching just to see what sort of wacky performance he would appear in next. Paula Garces is perfect as Gloria, and the love story between she and Derek was believable, although, again, quite clichéd. All of the other characters were very creative and fun.
In terms of sight gags and nudity, they're in plentiful supply here. One of my favorite scenes had a dog giving Simon Rex a blow job! Classic! There was a lot of female nudity, and while I'm not one to complain, some scenes just felt thrown in there for the sake of nudity alone. I really liked the story; something new filled with old stuff.
Overall, Pledge This! is a fun movie for what it was--a direct-to-video National Lampoon film that does very little to break from the mold. See this for nudity and laughs, but don't expect a masterpiece.
Victoria English (Paris Hilton) is the wealthy, snobbish president of Gamma Gamma sorority at South Beach University in Miami, Florida. When Victoria learns that FHM Magazine is nominating them for "Best Sorority of the Year", Victoria plots to have more "diversified" co-eds pledge her sorority to integrate her all-blonde and wealthy sorority. One of Victoria's pledges, Kristen Haas (Sarah Carter), suggests they pledge her ex-friend Gloria (Paula Garces) and six of her misfit dorm mates; DJ spinner Monique; an Indian exchange student nicknamed PooPoo; divorcée Kathy, who is seeking to relive her youth by going back to college; fat Southern belle Maxine; weird goth girl Babs; and lesbian chick Tonya. The seven pledges are force to go through the most outrageous initiations to be accepted. But when they learn that it was all an act just to get the front cover of FHM magazine, Gloria teams up with Victoria's boyfriend, Derek (Simon Rex), to settle the score.
Surprisingly, the acting in Pledge This! is quite solid, but the script is pretty lacking. It just does overused clichés one after another until we hit the extremely obvious ending. However, the clichés are actually most of what makes this movie work. If this tried to be some original romantic comedy, I couldn't see it working on any level whatsoever. I wasn't expecting much from Paris Hilton, as I had seen her in House of Wax and her acting was so wooden and boring that, basically, I wanted to throw up. However, Paris Hilton somehow manages to surprise and this is supposed to be direct-to-video fare! I've never really thought that Paris Hilton was very attractive, but in Pledge This!, the lighting, outfits, and hair style that Paris is given really make her stand out. Simon Rex was great as usual--he has rapidly become one of my favorite actors through the very few films that I have seen him in. His acting style is always hysterically funny, and the movie was worth watching just to see what sort of wacky performance he would appear in next. Paula Garces is perfect as Gloria, and the love story between she and Derek was believable, although, again, quite clichéd. All of the other characters were very creative and fun.
In terms of sight gags and nudity, they're in plentiful supply here. One of my favorite scenes had a dog giving Simon Rex a blow job! Classic! There was a lot of female nudity, and while I'm not one to complain, some scenes just felt thrown in there for the sake of nudity alone. I really liked the story; something new filled with old stuff.
Overall, Pledge This! is a fun movie for what it was--a direct-to-video National Lampoon film that does very little to break from the mold. See this for nudity and laughs, but don't expect a masterpiece.