PCU

Someone once said that nothing fails as noticeably than comedy. Who­ever said it must have had an advance look at this movie. PCU doesn't simply bomb, it implodes. Keep as far as you can from the screen. The vortex created by this disintegrating mess threatens to pull you into its black hole of total stupidity.

PCU (which stands for "politically cor­rect university")is essentially a '90s version of Animal House, updated in order to take broad swipes at contemporary' activism. The boys and girls of the ex-frat house named The Pit (who are definitely not activists) are convinced that nobody else on campas can take a joke. That's especially true of the university president (Jessica Walter), who's on the verge of shutting down their house. {Not surprisingly, a beer-blast of a party saves them.)

But the real issue here isn't that social activists lack a sense of humor. The real issue is that these characters simply aren't funny. Arrogant, yes. Obnoxious, you bet. Funny? Hell no. By comparison, Animal House is a work of sophisticated, insightful satire.

Beyond the irrefutable fact that it's terrible, two other things are notable about PCU. The script was written by Adam Leff and Zak Penn, alleged authors of Last Action Hero. Amazingly, they've been allowed to keep working. Secondly, PCU marks the directorial debut of Hart Bochner. Bochner is an actor who's probably best known for playing the yuppie slick-talker in Die Hard - the one who inadvertently negotiates his way into a quick execution. Now we know why Alan Rickman shot him.