The Freshman Movie Review

One of the most savagely underrated films of the 1990s, The Freshman is both touching and hilarious. The increasingly unlikely story has Matthew Broderick as a film school freshman from Vermont who gets caught up in the mob in New York City, where its boss is played by a mush-mouthed Marlon Brando, uncannily similar in appearance to a certain godfather. Strong supporting performances from Bruno Kirby, Frank Whaley, and Paul Benedict -- as Broderick's professor at film school, which is roundly pilloried -- elevate the film to minor classic status.