The Freshman (1990)

Synopsis: It’s Ferris Bueller meets The Godfather. No, really...

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “Marlon Brando triumphs in his first starring role in ten years as Carmine Sabatini, a powerful New York importer. Matthew Broderick co-stars as Clark Kellogg, a naive film student who accepts a job working for Sabatini.”

What Did I Learn?: Smoked turkey and Hawaiian tiger fish make a nice substitution for komodo dragon meat.

You Might Like This Movie If: You’ve always wanted to see Matthew Broderick chase a giant lizard around the Woodbine Mall in Etobicoke.

Really?:  1) Sure – I realize there are plenty of weirdos with more money than common sense out there, and there’s a huge market for tiger penises and other dubious ‘health’ foods, but would anyone really pay $200,000 to eat an endangered species, just for the heck of it? 2) Clark seems like an awfully good sport throughout most of the film, especially when he’s informed that he will soon by marrying Sabatini’s daughter.

Rating: The Freshman is a bit slow in places, and it’s not really that funny, but it is rather charming to see Brando spoof his most famous character. Oh – and Paul Benedict (best remembered as Mr. Bentley on The Jeffersons) has a nice role as an insane film professor. It's a shame that this film fell down the memory hole. 7/10 stars.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099615/