Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Heder are the stars of Todd Phillips’ 2006 American comedy picture School for Scoundrels. The 1960 British film School for Scoundrels served as the inspiration for the picture. The remake was released on September 29, 2006.
The remake covers the same ground as the original, albeit having a very different tone and plot. The character of Dr P honours the headmaster of the fictional Yeovil College of Lifemanship in the original 1960 Stephen Potter movie. The Lifemanship books, the real works upon which both films are based, were written by the real Stephen Potter.
Both films use a tennis match between competitors who are in love as a set piece. School for Scoundrels made $8,602,333 during its first weekend of release in North America, ranking #4 at the box office. It went on to make $23,947,685 in global revenue.
Filming Locations
New York City, New York, USA. California, USA. Long Beach, California, USA. Los Angeles, California, USA. Occidental Studios – 201 N. Occidental Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA., and Seaford, Long Island, New York, USA.
Plot Of The Movie
Roger is an unhappy meter reader who hopes to date Amanda, the international graduate student who lives in his building, despite being despised by his classmates and colleagues. In an attempt to boost his self-esteem, he enrolls in a course taught by Dr P, where he and his classmates are continuously harassed by the physician and his assistant Lesher, who takes pleasure in verbally and physically abusing them.
Some of the tasks assigned to them are severe and outdated, like the one where they have to pick a fight or argue with a stranger to show that they are courageous. However, none of them intends to leave the course because Dr P has promised not to refund $5,000 to anyone who leaves or doesn’t follow his instructions.
Even when Dr. P kills one of his former pupils, Roger’s classmates worry that if he moves too fast, Roger may end up like them. Roger starts to feel more confident about himself while participating, so he uses the abilities he learned in the training to ask Amanda out on a date.
To demonstrate that he still has the upper hand over Roger, Dr. P starts pursuing Amanda.
When he approaches volunteer animal caregiver Amanda, posing as a successful and devoted surgeon whose wife has died away, she is immediately taken to him. When Roger begins to realize what’s happening, he makes an effort, even if it is futile, to bring Amanda back.
After a fierce tennis match in which Roger humiliates him, Dr P uses the talents of Roger’s classmates to break into Amanda’s apartment and spray paint graffiti on the walls in an attempt to frame Roger as a stalker. Dr. P fires Roger from his job after Roger uses his authority as a meter reader to impound his car.
Roger gains knowledge about Dr. P’s plans for Amanda through Lonnie, a despondent former pupil who was likewise tricked by Dr P into thinking his girlfriend was the real one. Lonnie gives Roger a dossier full of evidence that Dr P is a scammer in an attempt to deter or deflect attention from his victims.
After learning that Dr. P had invited Amanda to Miami, Roger wants to put an end to him once and for all. He travels to the airport, where Dr. P informs him that he has won and gives him two tickets—one for Amanda and one for himself. At first, though, Roger doesn’t realize that Dr. P has led him to the wrong door.
Roger realizes he has been duped by Dr P again and decides at the last minute to board the plane to Miami, making his way to the right gate. When Lonnie and his students assist him in exposing Dr. P’s lie, it becomes evident that his wife is still alive and that he is not a surgeon or medical expert but was only acting that way to shock Roger after he had just passed out.
Amanda gives up and then realizes her error and returns to Roger. Dr. P gives Roger his first certificate upon graduating from his course when they finally cross paths. Roger declines his offer to speak as a guest in one of his next classes. The movie’s epilogue provides a brief description of most characters’ post-film fortunes.
