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Right off the bat, without reading any other reviews, I'll tell you most people will immediately compare Accepted to classic comedies like Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds. In their following sentence, they will probably say Accepted wasn't as funny as Animal House or as clever as Revenge of the Nerds – summing things up by convincing you not to see this film because all it has are regurgitated jokes surrounded by an absurd plot.

Now, here's where I'll tell you to forget everything you've read, because a film is allowed to feature a college setting and include a fraternity, without automatically ripping off, well, Animal House or Revenge of the Nerds. Of course, folks do have a reason to dig up the past when speaking about Accepted – the film does have that wacky John Hughes-esque 80's feel to it. And, trust me, that's a good thing. However, if Accepted does run into trouble, it's in deciding what type of film it wants to be. Is it edgy, dirty and disgusting? Or is it cute, wholesome and meaningful? I'll tell you this much: Make me laugh my ass off and I can care less which film you remind me of or supposedly ripped off – heck, I'm leaving the theater in a good mood, with a smile on my face. And, from a late-summer comedy with a relatively unknown cast, who can ask for more than that?

When we first meet Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long), he's assembled a group of fellow students in an empty classroom in order to take their pictures for fake I.D.s. When he's told the assistant principal will show up in a matter of minutes, Bartleby acts fast, turning this group of underage lawbreakers into the school's non-existent glee club. This is who Bartleby is: A smooth-talking teenager who uses his brains, not for school-work, but to help charm his way out of sticky situations. As my father would say, "If bullshit were electricity, this kid would be a powerhouse."

However, our modern-day Ferris Bueller runs into trouble when it comes to the opposite sex. That's right, with a comedy like Accepted, there has to be the obligatory dream girl (Blake Lively), dating a preppy jock (Kellan Lutz), who looks at Bartleby not as a future boyfriend, but as someone who can help mow her lawn in time for a big end-of-the-year house party.

As the school-year draws to a close and several rejection letters pile up in his mailbox, Bartleby soon comes to the realization that he, unlike his best friend, Sherman (as played by the scene-stealing Jonah Hill), might not be going to college. So, in order to get his parents off his back and save face within the community, Bartleby decides to create his own college and call it, The South Harmon Institute of Technology (or S.H.I.T.). With help from the very reluctant Sherman (who feels this is nothing but a gateway crime and could lead to the boys moving on from fabricating a college to opening a meth lab), Bartleby uses money his parents gave him for the tuition they thought was being put towards a real college and purchases an old, dilapidated psychiatric hospital to use as home base for this fictitious school.

It's at this point in the film where you, the viewer, have to suspend disbelief and imagine that it's possible for a kid straight out of high school to fool everyone and successfully open his own fake college. If you're unable to do that, the remainder of the film will seem too far-fetched and, most likely, you'll quickly become annoyed with these characters and their world.

Joining Bartleby on his quest is a unique group of misfits: There's Rory (Maria Thayer), a high-strung, eccentric girl who only applied to one school (Yale) and didn't get in. Hands (Columbus Short) was a big-time athlete riding a full scholarship until he was injured and lost it. Glen (Adam Herschman) is, well – how do I explain him – just plain weird. And, finally, there's Uncle Ben (Lewis Black): An ex-academic, ex-shoe salesman with anger issues who the kids bring on to act as dean of their school.

When the fake school website Sherman set up to help fool their parents accidentally invites a few hundred kids to attend, and the very real Harmon University sets out on a mission to expose South Harmon for the fraud that it is, Bartleby and friends soon find themselves way over their heads. However, our hero forges on in an attempt to create an environment where kids choose their own classes and teach themselves subjects like, Doing Nothing 405, Slacking 101 and Taking a Walk and Thinking About Stuff.

From here on out, the comedy and conflict slowly build (in a rather predictable way) until, finally, Bartleby finds himself face to face with a school accreditation board, forced to use everything he's learned thus far and convince these folks that South Harmon wasn't a joke, but, instead, an institution that sought out unwanted students looking to better themselves.

Having written screenplays for the John Cusack films High Fidelity and Grosse Point Blank, Steve Pink – in his directorial debut -- taps into the look and feel of the old school Cusack laffer, One Crazy Summer, in order to help create this vibrant world, chock-full of nutty characters, where it's more about fun comedy than intelligent comedy. In his first role leading an ensemble comedic cast, Justin Long is brilliant – proving he has what it takes to successfully carry a film without leaning on a big star or force-feeding us nonsensical shtick.

While a few of the scenes tread across familiar territory, screenwriters Adam Cooper, Bill Collage and Mark Perez mix things up enough so that the film feels fresh and different, though something tells me the original drafts were a lot edgier than what ultimately wound up on screen.

If you're looking for a good way to boost spirits before the school year begins in just a few weeks, then Accepted is definitely the film to do that. Is it predictable? Yes. Will it remind you of other, more enjoyable films? Yes. But if you're able to move past that, you'll enjoy Accepted for its consistent humor and undeniable heart.