Top 10 Frat Pack Films of the Decade (Kevin’s Opinion)

Frat Pack Tribute Senior Editor Kevin Crossman provides his list of the Top 10 Frat Pack Films of the Decade.

Vince Vaughn as Wes Mantooth

1. Anchorman
I know this is the safe pick but let’s be honest if we’re talking about “the Frat Pack” the perfect illustration of what this phenomena is starts and ends with the “Anchorman Rumble.” This classic bit of classic cinema pitted Will Ferrell and his news team (featuring a couple of at-the-time “unknowns” named Paul Rudd and Steve Carell”) against a rival news team led by Vince Vaughn. Vaughn’s character, Wes Mantooth, was featured throughout the movie and even got off one of the film’s signature catch phrases (”Dorothy Mantooth is a Saint!”). But the rumble didn’t stop there. Before the fight could start who would appear but Luke Wilson, fresh off his career-defining role in Old School. And then we had stunt casting at it’s finest with cameos from Tim Robbins and the Frat Pack’s own “Mr. Cameo” Ben Stiller. It is utterly hilarious and that’s before the fight even starts.

Anchorman also featured a cameo from Jack Black, making it the film with the most Frat Pack connections. Led by writer-director Adam McKay and producer Judd Apatow, Anchorman in many ways set the standard for how the comedy films this decade were shot and produced. Anchorman probably better than any film in history made the “non-sequitur” the basis of a punch line.

2. Zoolander
One part satire, one part bromance (before the term was coined), and all parts fully hilarious, Zoolander really started the Frat Pack connections this decade. In particular, Ben Stiller brought Will Ferrell into the fold as the outrageous villain of his male supermodel comedy. The film also featured a dialogue-free cameo from Vince Vaughn when most people knew him as a dramatic actor. Though marketed as a “Ben Stiller” movie, Owen Wilson’s contribution cannot be understated. The film also features one of the decade’s signature comedic set pieces, the “Walk Off.”

3. Old School
So important to the careers of so many. It’s the film that really put Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn on the map as cinematic comedians, and for a while made Luke Wilson a leading man. Director Todd Phillips updated the raunchy college comedy by focusing not on the typical demographic but an entirely new one. Like Anchorman, it’s impossible to not find a fabulous quote or a hilarious moment at any random point in the film.

4. Elf
Tonally more family-friendly than most on the list, Elf nonetheless included a number of contributions from familiar faces such as director Jon Favreau, and actors Andy Richter, Kyle Gass, and Mary Steenburgen. Will Ferrell’s ‘manchild’ persona was put to good use in a Christmas classic that is beloved by audiences.

5. The 40 Year-Old Virgin
One might argue that Judd Apatow’s later work was a better overall mix of comedy and drama, but Virgin’s high concept and memorable set-pieces were also effectively mixed with human emotion and male bonding so common to the best of the Frat Pack films.

6. Tropic Thunder
After a decade worth of hits, including family fare such as Night at the Museum and the Madagascar animated films, it was so great to see Ben Stiller still able to craft a very R-rated combination of comedy, satire, inspired casting, and action with Tropic Thunder. With parts written specifically for buddies such as Jack Black and Tom Cruise, Stiller was able to recruit an all-star cast for a film that could be put into a time capsule as a great representation of the culture of the past decade.

7. Dodgeball
Most Frat Pack buddy films featured two archetypes: the crazy guy and the mellow guy. With Dodgeball, Ben Stiller showed he’s well suited for the first role and Vince Vaughn showed the ’swinger’ can play either. Appearing in the summer of 2004 at the height of the Frat Pack’s signature year, the film was a big hit. All the regular pieces are in play; fantastic supporting roles from Frat Pack friends (Jason Bateman, Gary Cole, Christine Taylor), pop culture references (ESPN 8 - the Ocho), and great celebrity cameos (Lance Armstrong).

8. Wedding Crashers
Vaughn and Wilson took the ball and scored big time in what was at the time the biggest R-rated comedy of all time. The script was good but by giving the stars room to improvise, the material soared to new heights. There’s probably no better single cameo in Frat Pack history than the one that had audiences in the theatre cheering at Will Ferrell’s reveal.

9. Meet the Parents
Nobody does slow burn better than Ben Stiller and this Jay Roach-helmed movie used him as a punching bag for ninety minutes.

10. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
My 10-15 are fairly interchangeable but I wanted to give props to Judd Apatow’s most underappreciated film. Directed by Jake Kasdan, Walk Hard is in so many ways an Airplane-style parody but does so by bringing forth a character every bit as interesting as Ricky Bobby or Tugg Speedman. John C. Reilly’s performance as Dewey Cox could have bordered on stupid but instead made audiences care about the character. Any film that can have me laugh at penis jokes while also making me tear up at the film’s “emotional conclusion” is doing a lot of things right. Plus, the film featured a wonderful catch-phrase (”the wrong kid died”) and some hilarious cameos (including Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Justin Long, and Jason Schwartzman as The Beatles).

11. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

12. The Break-Up

13. Starsky & Hutch

14. I Love You, Man

15. Knocked Up

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 2:05 pm and is filed under Ben Stiller, Frat Pack, Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Judd Apatow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Steve Carell, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.