I love IMDb.com. I just came here (after seeing the movie) and saw that John Hughes (using a pseudonym) was one of the writers of this movie. That makes sense, because the movie covers the awkwardness, danger and constant potential for life-ruining humiliation that is freshman year high school. Being "skinny, scared and lonely", as Drillbit Taylor puts it.
One of the other writers is the awesome Seth Rogen, co-writer & co-star of "Superbad" and co-star of "Knocked Up".
Owen Wilson is funny, sexy and heartwarming in this role. The trio of geeky lads who hire Owen as their protector are all played by wonderful young actors. The Apatow organization seems to have a genius for finding great and funny teen actors. I was especially impressed by Alex Frost (he plays the bully) who I think has stardom in his future.
The small roles of the film are filled by standup comics and "The Daily Show" alumni. Good talent all around.
The movie is not perfect. It's front-loaded -- meaning the first half has so many laughs you can't hear all the lines for the laughter. Then it suddenly slows down in the second half. It's still interesting -- just not as funny. And when you get to the violent fighting, that dries up the laughs.
Overall though, any film from the Apatow organization is going to be 6 times funnier and more inventive than the average movie comedy out there. So go have some laughs.
