Harvard Man (2001)

33% of critics liked it
(36 reviews)
33% of users liked it
(7,704 ratings)

Director and screenwriter James Toback used his own experiences as a college student in the 1960s as the basis for this drama about a present-day student athlete who's bitten off more than he can chew. Alan Jensen (Adrian Grenier) is a college sophomore struggling to keep up with an unusually busy… More Director and screenwriter James Toback used his own experiences as a college student in the 1960s as the basis for this drama about a present-day student athlete who's bitten off more than he can chew. Alan Jensen (Adrian Grenier) is a college sophomore struggling to keep up with an unusually busy schedule -- while studying philosophy as a Harvard undergrad, he's also a point guard on the school's basketball team, and is juggling two girlfriends, cheerleader Cindy Bandolini (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Chesney (Joey Lauren Adams), a professor ten years his senior. As Alan tries to stay on top of his classes and keep his love life sorted out, he receives some bad news from his parents -- a tornado has devastated their home, and they need $100,000 to rebuild. Alan wants to help his parents, and as it happens, Cindy's father is a Mafia boss tied in with a number of powerful bookies. Cindy uses her family's connection to put Alan in touch with Teddy (Eric Stoltz), a bookie who's willing to give Alan $100,000 in exchange for throwing a few games and shaving some points. Cindy also uses her dad's bankroll to place a quarter-million dollar bet on the upcoming Harvard-Dartmouth game, certain Alan can ensure a predictable outcome. But when the games don't go quite the way Alan expected, despite his best worst effort, he finds himself in dutch with the Mafia, while also attracting the attention of FBI agents who've been investigating Teddy and his associates. Amidst this chaos, Alan hops a jet home to give his parents the ill-gotten $100,000, and on the flight back decides to relax mid-flight by dropping a heroic dose of LSD, which turns out not to be one of his better ideas. Harvard Man was originally intended to star Leonardo DiCaprio as Alan, but after the project was put on hold in 1994, DiCaprio rocketed to fame in Titanic, which priced himself out of the project by the time James Toback was able to return to it years later. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 37 min.
Directed By: James Toback
Written By: James Toback
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Oct 29, 2002 Wide
On DVD: Nov 5, 2002
Studio: Cowboy Pictures

Critic Reviews

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News
The attempt is courageous, even if the result is wildly uneven.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
What makes the movie work is that the premise, which sounds like a comedy, is treated with the seriousness of life and death.
Loren King, Chicago Tribune
Toback offers a complex, borderline campy, and oddly entertaining study of modern moral dilemmas.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
A crisply made movie that is no more than mildly amusing.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
A characteristically engorged and sloppy coming-of-age movie.
Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter
Putting it all out there and shaping it into some kind of contained whole is something else again. Although that never quite happens here, there's plenty to appreciate.
Brent Simon, Entertainment Today
An overstylized, puréed mélange of sex, psychology, drugs and philosophy. Sometimes entertaining, sometimes indulgent -- but never less than pure wankery.
Chuck Wilson, L.A. Weekly
Grenier is terrific, bringing an unforced, rapid-fire delivery to Toback's Heidegger- and Nietzsche-referencing dialogue.
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com
I think it was Plato who said, 'I think, therefore I know better than to rush to the theatre for this one.'
Shawn Levy, Oregonian
A semi-autobiographical film that's so sloppily written and cast that you cannot believe anyone more central to the creation of Bugsy than the caterer had anything to do with it.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
Might have been played as a glum cautionary tale, but in Toback's hands it becomes a lark--flashy, florid and blissfully over-the-top.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
There's a certain niche audience that will eat up Harvard Man -- but whether that's the mob-movie set, the college-movie set, or the sex-movie set, I really have no idea.
Doris Toumarkine, Film Journal International
A frustrating 'tweener' -- too slick, contrived and exploitative for the art houses and too cynical, small and decadent for the malls.
Marshall Fine, Journal News (Westchester, NY)
If it's seldom boring, well, it's also rarely coherent.
Sheri Linden, Boxoffice Magazine
For those who accept the offbeat premise, the film ultimately delivers a satisfying dramatic exploration of the ways we create ourselves.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jason S

Not all that good. I liked the actors but the characters were not likable and I ended up not caring what happened more and more as I watched it.
Dean !

SMG fans will be dissapointed with this. A very odd film each which a student gets mixed up in trying to throw a basketball game in which to make money for himself and his mobster daughter, girlfriend.
Kevin M

Lots of sex, deception and an adventurous storyline. Even if you don't like the plot, which involves a manipulative FBI investigation and a points-shaving scam, you'd enjoy the hilarious 'acid trip' scenes. Grenier, Adams and Stoltz are very convincing, yet there… More
Lots of sex, deception and an adventurous storyline. Even if you don't like the plot, which involves a manipulative FBI investigation and a points-shaving scam, you'd enjoy the hilarious 'acid trip' scenes. Grenier, Adams and Stoltz are very convincing, yet there are a few pretentious actors who barely achieve a decent portrayal (Gayheart, Gellar, etc). Great direction, especially surrounding the schizophrenic acts where Alan's (Grenier) mind is galloping on a triple-heavy dose of LSD. Take my advice: Stay away from acid.
Chosen 7

Decent film.
Robert F

Drug usage in films makes me sick....and in real life too. I think I fell asleep somewhere towards the end. Only good line was when SMG told the other girl to "Suck my dick".