Harvard Man Information

Harvard Man is a 2001 crime comedy-drama thriller film written and directed by James Toback, and starring Adrian Grenier, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Joey Lauren Adams, Eric Stoltz, and Rebecca Gayheart.

Plot

The story concerns Harvard student Alan Jensen, the point guard of the Harvard basketball team. When his parents' house is destroyed by a tornado, Alan is desperate for $100,000 to replace their home. He is approached by his girlfriend Cindy Bandolino, whose father is an organized crime boss. Cindy convinces Alan to throw a game for the money. She tells Alan that her father is behind the deal, but actually she goes to her father's associate, Teddy Carter, and Carter's assistant, Kelly Morgan for funding. What she does not know is that Carter and Morgan are undercover FBI agents.

Alan throws the game, gives his parents the money, and then undergoes a psychedelic experience after he ingests a big dose of LSD, 15,000 micrograms. There follows a long stretch of the film during which morphing special effects demonstrate Alan's altered state as he is pursued by Carter, while Cindy is collared by Morgan.

Just when it looks like a toss-up as to what will prove his downfall first, the bad trip, the FBI, or the mob, Alan's other girlfriend (who is also his philosophy lecturer), Chesney Cort (played by Adams), saves the day. Not only does she get Alan to a doctor who can bring him back to sobriety, she reveals that she is in a sexual threesome with Carter and Morgan. Once he gets some photographic evidence for blackmail, Alan is extricated from his problems.

Cast

• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Cindy Bandolino
• Adrian Grenier as Alan Jensen
• Joey Lauren Adams as Chesney Cort
• Eric Stoltz as Teddy Carter
• Rebecca Gayheart as Kelly Morgan
• Gianni Russo as Andrew Bandolino
• Ray Allen as Marcus Blake
• Michael Aparo as Russell
• Scottie Epstein as Mario
• John Neville as Dr. Reese
• Polly Shannon as Juliet
• Phillip Jarrett as Coach Preston
• Al Franken as himself

Release

Harvard Man had only a limited theatrical release in July 2002, and received little critical or popular acclaim, although it achieved some success when it was released on video and DVD in October of that year.

Critical reception

The film received generally negative reviews, currently holding a 33% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus states: "Harvard Man is a pretentious, incoherent mess." On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film has a 49/100 indicating "mixed or average reviews".