Parents' Guide to

Admission

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Teen-friendly comedy has laughs but is uneven.

Movie PG-13 2013 110 minutes
Admission Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 15+

Based on 3 parent reviews

starstuff_101
starstuff_101 Adult
January 5, 2014
age 12+

Great movie but not so okay for younge kids

It goes into some iffy topics but if your child is mature enough to handle it it'll be okay. It is a great movie!

This title has:

Great messages
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Dan G.
Dan G. Parent
March 24, 2013
age 18+

NOT Teen Friendly!

This film is not for children of any age, including teenagers. The film portrays selfish and irresponsible sexual behavior as being OK, and one of the main characters resorts to fraud to bring about a supposedly 'happy ending'. Of couse, it has some of the rough, crude and profane language all to common in 'adult' movies. This movie attempts to appeal to peoples' selfishness and a fantasy of 'anything is OK to get what you want.'

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Based on Jean Hanff Korelitz's same-named novel, ADMISSION stars Tina Fey as Portia Nathan, a disciplined, committed admissions officer at Princeton University. Hers is a job that many covet but may not be able to handle. Wading through mountains of college applications from tens of thousands of eager high school students is a daunting task, as is weeding through them to find the perfect freshman class. But Portia is happy. Or so she thinks, until her longtime boyfriend, a Princeton professor (Michael Sheen), informs her that he's leaving her, sending Portia into a depression spiral. But it's application season, and she has to keep it together, especially when the dean of admissions (Wallace Shawn) announces that he's retiring and that Portia and another ambitious co-worker are in the running for his job. Plus, her feminist mother (Lily Tomlin) may need her, and vice versa, more than Portia first thought. And she's got do-gooding teachers like John Pressman (Paul Rudd) begging her to visit their campus and meet exceptionally gifted students like Jeremiah (Nat Wolff), with whom Portia may actually have a lot in common.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (6):

Like some of the high school seniors it depicts frantically attempting to impress during the interminable, stressful college application period, Admission tries a little too hard. Scenes are loaded with please-laugh, please-like moments: An uptight woman's mother is a sexual free spirit, leering at others openly while her daughter cringes; a guy helps a cow give birth (and he has no idea how); high school students openly deride a college admissions officer's presentation (and she responds with witty comebacks). It's all a little too much, frankly, leaving with you with the sense -- perhaps the same sense that an admissions officer gets when reading an overbaked application -- that all isn't as great as it tries to appear.

Fey and Rudd aren't the problem: They're funny, they have great comic timing, and they share an easy rapport. Perhaps it's that the film has too much good material to mine: The college application process alone has plenty of potential, and although Admission tries to capitalize on it, it does so with jokes we've heard before. It would have done better to take advantage of its behind-the-curtains point of view (as it is, except for a satisfying scene in which the admissions officers duke it out over applicants, debating the merits of each one, we don't see much that's new or surprising). While not everything on the big screen needs to be refreshing, the fact that the leads are charming and funny isn't enough to make Admission stand out above the crowd.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what Admission is saying about the college application process. Is it random? Deliberate? Should the results be taken personally? How realistic do you think the version on display here really is?

  • How does the movie portray college life? Are there any scenes that show the real-life consequences of partying?

  • Parents, talk to your kids about the lead-up to the college application process. Is it stressful? Should it be? What's the best way to prepare for it?

Movie Details

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