The movie kicks off with a ritual punishment ceremony for several young members of the Kappa Omicron Kappa (KOK) fraternity, indicted for teaching the "secret handshake" to a girl. I'll mention that the ritual intimated the use of a small furry animal and leave it at that. Blessedly, this inhumane practice is interrupted by the rapid descent of a keg party into the ceremonial chamber.
The ceremony highlights the tension between Spence, the house president (Brad Beyer) and the three main characters, Dave (Barry Watson), Adam (Michael Rosenbaum) and Doofer (Harland Williams). This becomes important when, a few degrading but otherwise meaningless scenes later, the house president frames the three hapless heroes for embezzling house funds.
Having nowhere else to go, the trio finds themselves, through a somewhat bizarre and barely believable turn of events, decked out in drag and pledging for Delta Omicron Gamma (DOG). Predictably, the most handsome and likable of the three (the head KOK, if you will) falls for the top DOG: ultra-feminist and vaguely lesbian house president, Leah (Melissa Sagemiller). Wackiness ensues, as the "sorority boys" attempt to clear their names and regain entrance into their beloved KOK house.
For all the movie's lip service against embracing media stereotypes of beauty, leading lady Leah is blonde, beautiful and a size six. Adam/Adina who is repeatedly heckled throughout the film for his "fat ass," is a size eight. Finally, instead of taking a firm stand against the demands of traditional femininity, the movie plays into them by shaving the hairy French chick, putting all the DOGs in tight clothing and pairing them up with the "newly enlightened" KOKs.
While the movie illuminates several degrading (and occasionally illegal) traditions practiced by fraternity boys, it does not do enough to drive home how wrong these actions really are. In fact, two of these practices are key elements in the protagonists' plan to achieve their goals: Adam's homemade porn video, filmed without the knowledge of the girls involved, and the use of "roofies," which results in non-consensual sex and is treated comedically.
In 94 minutes, I did not develop an ounce of attachment to any of the characters and left remembering only three of their names. Apathy and casual amusement were the strongest positive emotions any of them were able to evoke, while most ranged from irritating to utterly deplorable.
The acting was fine … but only because the script demanded virtually nothing of its actors. An exception is Tony Denman ("Fargo") who deserves a medal for his portrayal of Jimmy, an over-eager but under-sized frat-boy who grapples convincingly with the course and consequences of bedding his Big Brother, Adam.
It seems uncanny to me that, with all the potentially funny elements in this movie, it fails to actually be funny. The producers no doubt believed they had scored the perfect recipe for laughs, but something in the mix went awry and, like a badly tended soufflé, this movie fell flat.