`SCHOOL' IS IN SESSION `SCOUNDREL' STARS GO TO THE HEAD OF THE CLASS TO CONFESS (OR ARE THEY BRAGGING?) THEIR WORST BEHAVIOR.Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer In ``School for Scoundrels,'' opening Friday, a hopeless dweeb A very technical person. Dweebs sometimes call sales people "slime," anybody interested in technology for profit rather than the art of it. See nerd and geek. dweeb - An even lower form of life than the spod, found in much the same habitat as the former. played by ``Napoleon Dynamite's'' Jon Heder takes a shady extension course that promises to turn him from a loser into a lion. Trouble is, the course is taught by Dr. P, a bully and a sneak and a liar. He's played by Billy Bob Thornton Robert George (Bob) Thornton (born July 10 1962, in Los Angeles, California) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA whose career lasted from 1985 to 1996. He was a 6'10" 225 forward. He holds career averages of 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 283 total games. , who's been making quite a living lately playing first-class jerks. Naming names We figured it would be appropriate to ask some of the film's heavy-hitters (Heder, Thornton, co-stars Jacinda Barrett Jacinda Barrett (born August 2, 1972) is an Australian model turned actress. Born in Brisbane, Queensland, Barrett started modeling at the age of seventeen, through Europe. In 1995 she had her first television appearance as a cast member on MTV's . and Michael Clarke Duncan, plus director Todd Phillips) about great scoundrels they have known. And also about times when they were scoundrels themselves. ``In this business, you tend to deal with a lot of scoundrels,'' observes Phillips, who also directed ``Old School'' and ``Starsky & Hutch hutch 1. standard cagelike accommodation for rabbits. 2. light, movable cabin for calves or pigs; to provide shelter and warmth for animals at pasture. hutch burn .'' ``It does feel like one of those things where, although it's cliche to say, you do have to be a little bit of an (expletive) to get ahead. So you do come across people like that a lot.'' But really, I'm pretty clean.'' Pretty tricky Minutes later, Duncan, who plays Thornton's intimidating right-hand man, enters the room. He accuses the filmmaker of tricking him into doing a scene that Phillips claimed would have no degrading sexual connotations, but in the final cut, naturally, does. ``I guess that was pretty scoundrel SCOUNDREL. An opprobrious title given to a person of bad character. General damages will not lie for calling a man a scoundrel, but special damages may be recovered when there has been an actual loss. 2 Bouv: Inst. n. 2250; 1 Chit. Pr. 44. of me,'' Phillips admits after a squad of courageous publicists escorted the large, threat-hurling actor from the room. ``Is he serious? Should I just stay in here?'' We retired to the relatively benign presence of Thornton, who fessed up to pulling a prank that's emblematic of the town that gave us ``Punk'd.'' ``I talked a famous friend of mine into meeting me at Planet Hollywood one time,'' the Oscar-winning ``Sling Blade'' creator, and everyone's favorite Bad Santa, confesses. ``It's the worst thing an actor can do, go to a touristy place like that. You just get bombarded. I told him I was gonna meet him there in 20 minutes, and I didn't go, I set him up. He shows up, I don't, and the next thing he knows, he's spending the rest of his day taking photos with tourists and signing autographs. Yeah, he's still (ticked) about it.'' Ever since `Santa' ... When you talk to him, Thornton seems like a nice, friendly Southern dude. And he insists that's basically how he is, despite his current run of S.O.B.s like Dr. P. ``Here's the deal,'' Thornton explains. ``Ever since I did `Bad Santa,' they call me up when they need an (expletive). It's kinda that simple. If `Bad Santa' hadn't been successful, that wouldn't have been the case. But because it was, well, you know how narrow the imagination in this business can be.'' So, how about Heder? Nice young Mormon man from Oregon. He probably thinks Hollywood is Scoundrel Central, huh? Nope. ``Let's see, worst scoundrels I know,'' Heder muses. ``Uh, brothers maybe? We would always get into trouble with each other. ``There was a girl that my older brother barely dated for a little bit. Then he broke it off, and I started to get to know her. As I was homing in on that, my twin brother kind of butted in. I had a job, and he didn't, so he had a lot more time that he used to try and take over. ``And he failed! But I didn't really succeed, either.'' Then he moans, ``And he came out first, and kept hogging the fallopian. He was always, like, elbowing me and getting more nutrients. I think.'' When we hit Australian Barrett with the scoundrel quiz, we figured she'd have a wealth of imaginative antipodean an·tip·o·des pl.n. 1. Any two places or regions that are on diametrically opposite sides of the earth. 2. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Something that is the exact opposite or contrary of another; an antipode. misbehavior to draw on. I mean, c'mon; Errol Flynn. Mel Gibson. Russell Crowe. In the film, she plays the girl Heder's Roger gains the courage to pursue and Dr. P tries to steal. ``I had a boyfriend that cheated on me once,'' is the best she could come up with. Right. Rather common, that. But Heder did note that Barrett has her impish imp·ish adj. Of or befitting an imp; mischievous. imp  ish·ly adv.imp , if not quite scoundrel, side. She liked to punch him in the gut before every take. Human punching bag ``He's just that kinda guy,'' she chirps. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. why, but every time I see Jon, I just wanna wan·na Informal 1. Contraction of want to: You wanna go now? 2. Contraction of want a: You wanna slice of pie? punch him. I don't mean it in a bad way. I don't want to hurt him. ... And he doesn't do anything, he just laughs. So I punch him.'' Now that's the kind of thing we want to hear. But it makes us digressively di·gres·sive adj. Characterized by digressions; rambling. di·gres sive·ly adv. wonder: Is Heder actually as wimpy Wimpysloppily dressed comic strip character; always “forgets” to pay for hamburgers. [Comics: “Popeye” in Horn, 657–658] See : Irresponsibility around women as his character is in the movie? Nope, he assures us. Not anymore, anyway. ``In high school, I was more along the lines of him,'' says the now-happily-married Heder. ``I didn't have a lot of confidence with girls. I wouldn't even have gotten to the moment that Roger does when he asks the girl out; I had the confidence that I had no confidence.'' But we want tales of real Hollywood chicanery. And names named! The big guy kindly obliges. And it wasn't Phillips. ``I'd say Michael Bay is a scoundrel,'' Duncan divulges, referring to the volatile blockbuster director who's given him pretty steady work. ``I'm saying that emphatically: Michael Bay wins. ``He made me wear those tiger-skin underwear in `Armageddon'!'' Bob Strauss, (818) 713-3670 bob.strauss@dailynews.com 5 (in)famous scoundrels What makes a scoundrel? Sometimes great men are scoundrels; sometimes they're just rotten. Often they are charming or admired enough to get away with their crimes -- at least for a while. Here are five figures who make the grade: Ivan Boesky: Notable for his role in a Wall Street insider trading scandal in the 1980s. Boesky had amassed a $200 million fortune by betting on corporate takeovers, based on tips from insiders. When found out, he cooperated with the feds and informed on several of his collaborators, including junk bond junk bond, a bond that involves greater than usual risk as an investment and pays a relatively high rate of interest, typically issued by a company lacking an established earnings history or having a questionable credit history. trader Michael Milken Michael Milken As an executive at Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. during the 1980s, Milken used high-yield junk bonds for financing and corporate takeovers. While his personal wealth was enormous, he spent two years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of securities fraud. , before he was sent to jail. Stephen Glass: A 25-year-old rising star at the New Republic magazine, Glass wrote dozens of high-profile articles for national publications in which he fabricated people, places and events. To back up his fraud, he created fake notes, fake voicemails, fake faxes and even a fake Web site to deceive his editors. The story of Glass' rise and fall in the world of Washington political journalism was the subject of the movie ``Shattered Glass.'' Charles Keating Jr.: The former head of Lincoln Savings, Keating became a symbol of the 1980s savings and loan savings and loan n. a banking and lending institution, chartered either by a state or the Federal government. Savings and loans only make loans secured by real property from deposits, upon which they pay interest slightly higher than that paid by most banks. debacle after his company invested its taxpayer-insured deposits in high-risk land, hotel and securities deals. The government estimated losses to taxpayers at $3.4 billion after Lincoln was seized by regulators, one of the worst savings and loan failures in history. Keating was imprisoned im·pris·on tr.v. im·pris·oned, im·pris·on·ing, im·pris·ons To put in or as if in prison; confine. [Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en- for almost five years. Dan Sickles: The Civil War general and New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of politician was famous for making what many considered a huge tactical blunder at Gettysburg, almost costing the Union the battle and perhaps the war. A congressman, Sickles earned national notoriety for shooting down his wife's lover. The infamous adulterer a·dul·ter·er n. One who commits adultery. adulterer or fem adulteress Noun a person who has committed adultery Noun 1. was acquitted, nevertheless, and still had among his admirers no less than Mark Twain. Aaron Burr: He was almost the third president, losing out to Jefferson in a vote in the House of Representatives. Best-known for challenging and mortally wounding Alexander Hamilton in a duel while vice president. Indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. for murder but never tried, he later escaped to South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW). Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,012,012, a 15. , then returned to Washington to complete his vice presidential term. He was arrested and tried for treason in August 1807 for trying to form a republic in the Southwest of which he was to be the head, but he was acquitted. In 1833, at age 77, Burr married a wealthy widow, but when she found her fortune being depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d by his land speculation, she sued him for divorce. Despite the scandals in his life, Burr was admired by many Americans, including President John Adams. -- Daily News research CAPTION(S): 8 photos Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) MEAN GUYS Billy Bob Thornton gives Jon Heder and education in `School for Scoundrels' (2 -- 3) Dr. P (Billy Bob Thornton) gives lessons in how to bag a babe, with Jon Heder, top right, as his insecure and socially inept student, in ``School for Scoundrels,'' opening Friday. (4) Ivan Boesky (5) Stephen Glass (6) Charles Keating Jr. (7) Dan Sickles (8) Aaron Burr Box: 5 (in)famous scoundrels (see text) |
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