Accepted, perhaps fittingly named for a movie about a bunch of kids that didn't make the cut for college, is best described as wasted potential. The movie's flaw is that it can't decide if it wants to satirize the educational system or just sit on a DVD rack next to Old School, settling for a disappointing mixture.

In the film, a group of high school graduates, led by their leader Bartleby, are rejected from every college they apply to. "Rejection. That's what makes a college great. The exclusivity of any university is judged primarily by the amount of students it rejects," the dean of a local college claims. To buy time and avoid angry parents, the rejects decide to create a fictional college to attend.

They name their school the South Harmon Institute of Technology, a name that probably sounded a lot better before they realized what the acronym would be. (Hint: the name of the newspaper is The Rag, and the students are nicknamed "heads.") But their fake school is a little too convincing. The application on the Web site works and hundreds of students show up on the first day expecting a real school. The kids decide to run with it and see how long they can keep the sham up.

There are a few nice barbs at the expense of the college experience. Anyone who disagrees with the number of gen ed courses prescribed will laugh knowingly when a student complains about not being able to register for photography classes geared for journalism and art students.

"Apparently not all photography classes apply to photography majors," the student explains before excusing herself. "Well, gotta go, I'm late for my Ancient Roman history class."

The Daily Show's Lewis Black, noted for shaking with enough anger to cause heart failure, gets off a few good barbs as Uncle Ben, a washed-up teacher who serves as the fake college's fake dean. Bartleby watches on in horror as Ben meets with his parents, telling them college merely "indoctrinates them into a lifelong hell of debt and indecision" before finishing with the only reason to attend college is "to get a good job with a great starting salary."

But these examples of witty commentary promise more than the film can deliver. When their scam is discovered, the students find themselves before a college accreditation board pleading their status. Bartleby makes a grand speech saying that even though the board may reject them, they'll never stop learning and growing.

"You are the real thieves," he tells the board, "For robbing these students of their creativity and passion." But -- surprise, surprise -- the board agrees to put them on probation instead of shutting the school down, leading to cheers of victory.

And for a film that seems to prize individuality and innovation, Accepted sticks very close to the accepted college comedy structure. The school year features plenty of parties and not a lot of class. The guy from the evil frat cheats on his gorgeous, nice girlfriend for no reason and loses her to the hero. Could it have ended any other way besides a hearing before the school board that, despite the evidence, rules in favor of the underdogs?

To be fair, the film kept me entertained and chuckling for 90 minutes. As a light comedy, you could do worse. But the occasional jabs at the university system were so spot on that I couldn't help but suspect the filmmakers had a bigger point that got lost among the cliches and fart jokes. Grade: C