The other day my roommate asked me what I did that day.

"Oh, I did some homework, watched some T.V., then called up Billy Bob Thornton to see what he was up to these days."

To my delight, I had the opportunity to see an advance screening of Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Heder's new film School for Scoundrels, directed by Todd Phillips.

Following the screening, I had the chance to participate in a conference call interview with Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) and Thornton (The Bad News Bears), specifically held for college papers across the country.

After going around saying "Gosh!" and "Sweeeeet" for months, and witnessing the disgusting Billy Bob/Angelina affair, I have to admit I had some serious preconceptions going into the interview.

When asked about the difference between his character in Scoundrels and the one that made him famous, Heder said he thinks this role is more of an every-man character than the one he played in Napoleon Dynamite.

"I still love Napoleon, I knew he was a special character when we were developing the movie, I have no problem with him being my starting point," he said. "But the role of Roger comes more naturally to me, it really is closer to how I actually am, it's not such an extreme character."

Thornton said he liked the idea of playing a character that had absolutely no conscience.

"In some of my other movies I do play jerks, but underneath it all, they think with their hearts," he said. "This guy only thinks with his head, he's a real shark."

When asked what type of genre of comedy the film falls under, both men scrambled for an answer.

"It's a shooting other guys with paintballs comedy," Heder said.

"It's a guy comedy," Thornton answered.

Imagine paying Billy Bob Thornton to be your life coach. Not really something I would do, but the misfit "students" in the School for Scoundrels eagerly cough up the $5,000 tuition for his character's expert advice on life.

When I first found out that I would be able to attend the screening of Scoundrels, I was mostly excited to see how Jon Heder would do. This was because I, like many of my fellow Americans, went around for months spouting all kinds of ridiculous phrases he made famous and vowed Napoleon Dynamite was one of the funniest movies I had ever seen. So far, I've been disappointed with his subsequent roles, but he has, with this movie, been redeemed slightly.

Heder stars as Roger, a down-on-his-luck meter maid without a backbone.

In one day he gets shot at by thugs, has his regulation meter maid uniform stolen from him while he's wearing it and deals with the crushing blow of yet another of his "little brothers" in the Big Brother program requesting a different "brother".

On top of everything else he just can't seem to get up the courage to talk, coherently, to the girl of his dreams.

Recognizing the problem, one of Heder's friends recommends a top-secret class that supposedly builds self-confidence.

Enter Thornton's character, Dr. P. His tough tactics with his class inspire everyone's confidence to grow.

However, Heder happens to be doing too well and rouses the competitive streak in Dr. P., who sets about to ruin Heder's life. But don't worry, Heder strikes back.

The movie is funny. It's not laugh until you cry funny but I -- and the rest of the audience, for that matter -- laughed consistently through the whole thing.

Heder's role is basically the same role he always plays. I would like to see him try out a different type of character, but I think he was a good choice for Roger.

Thornton, on the other hand, was quite the disappointment. While I'm not a Billy Bob fan, I was expecting him to excel in his role as manipulative, sleazy Dr. P.

However, whenever he was onscreen I felt a little embarrassed that his younger cast mates were outshining him.

The rest of the cast, including Ben Stiller, Sarah Silverman and Luis Guzmán, were underused. I thought their parts could have been expanded in order to enrich the movie. twenty minutes to the film without it feeling too drawn out.

Scoundrels is definitely worth watching, but maybe save it for the much cheaper video rental.