I know we're not the biggest fans of Luke Wilson at the moment (especially here at BRM), but after watching this trailer…
...I now have renewed faith in Young Luke. Looks like he's going back to something that works: acting like a strong-jawed, silently frustrated, Wes Anderson-y wimp who, with the help of some friends and the love of a woman, finds his way. Luke is also falling back on an old lucrative genre. That's right, college movies. Old School definitely brought Luke Wilson some mainstream attention back in '03, but Tenure seems to deviate from the usual collegiate sytle. It is not a played-out, drunken-and-sloppy, beer helmet, Hank The Tank, streaking-through-the-quad, and KY Jelly Wrestling kind of movie. In this one Luke plays a college professor down on his luck because he is denied tenure by the English department. Add in a love interest (a fellow professor who is tenured in his stead) and a plucky sidekick (played by David Koechner), and you've got yourself what just might be an indie darling.
I think Koechner may have the best role in the film as an Anthropology professor. Is it just me, or could this be DutchMasters in about 20 years?
But the best part about Tenure is its shooting location. It was filmed at my college! That means that yes, Luke Wilson came into my classroom. Yes, I woke up one morning to find extras playing Frisbee outside my window. Yes, rumors ran rampant that Luke had a fling with a student. Yes, his black Jeep was parked in the center of campus and girls sunbathed in bikinis in the chill April weather. I can only hope that one day I will actually get to watch this movie and remember fondly my college days. Without a beer helmet or KY wrestling, thankyouverymuch.
