"Admission” teeters between romantic comedy and coming–of–age story, never quite knowing what it wants to be. In her first post–30 Rock step into the world, Tina Fey (retaining her Liz–Lemoness) plays Portia, an uptight Princeton admissions officer whose well–controlled life comes undone when she meets her son for the first time. Portia navigates the rest of the film falling in love with Paul Rudd and trying to get her academically inferior son Jeremiah into Princeton by crossing several ethical boundaries. The film’s not as corny as its rom–com trailers make it out to be, and it’s at its best when it focuses on Portia’s attempts to connect to Jeremiah, rather than the budding romance. The biggest suspension of disbelief is that when Portia’s life falls apart, she has someone of Paul Rudd–caliber handsomeness to catch her. Fey and Rudd are cute together, but they’re not enough to carry a film.
Our Grade: B
Metacritic: 41%
Rating and Runtime: PG-13, 117 min.
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