Some movies do not fit neatly into categories. For some, this means a refreshing streak of iconoclasm. For others, however, it means a wavering indecision on the part of the filmmakers that can prove quite frustrating to watch. Paul Weitz’s “Admission” is definitely more of the latter.
The film is not quite a rom-com, not quite a comedy, but also not really a drama. It’s just a strange mix of tonal swings tied together by a story. Despite the presence of the very funny Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, “Admission” has very little to laugh about. And surprisingly, in spite of the loving glances they shoot each other in the film’s poster, their sexual tension remains a set of undeveloped hints.
Fey’s character is also extremely similar to the one she played in the 2008 romp “Baby Mama.” The slightly uptight career woman experiencing regret about not settling down to have kids is quickly on its way to becoming as clichéd as Reese Witherspoon’s perfect belle having two men fight over her. In “Admission,” she plays a strung-out Princeton admissions counselor dealing with mommy issues when a potential new admit could be the son she gave up for adoption back in college.
Even though I’m three years removed from the college admissions process, watching the Princeton committees debate the merits of applicants by reducing them to test scores and résumés still sent shivers up my spine. It’s tough and rather disheartening to watch Portia try to fight for an unconventional candidate and face an insurmountable uphill battle the entire way. The whole process is rather strung out and tense, and the overall mood left after the dust settles is one of depression.
By the end, “Admission” decides it most wants to be a drama after all. And it actually does produce a decent conclusion, one that satisfies by not coming to any neat and tidy answers. Because that’s what life is – anything but easy (just like getting into Princeton, apparently). Better the film come to this tough realization than make us sit through a clichéd one that we’ve already seen in more defined and self-assured movies. B- / 
Marshall and the Movies 
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