Admission (2013)

IMDb plot summary: A Princeton admissions officer who is up for a major promotion takes a professional risk after she meets a college-bound alternative school kid who just might be the son she gave up years ago in a secret adoption.
Directed by Paul Weitz. Starring Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, and Nat Wolff.

Tina Fey and Paul Rudd are two actors who I just always find likable. No matter what movie they're in, I root for their characters and hope their lives end well and want them to win. So why did I want so badly to punch them in the face during this movie?

The movie starts off with two fairly unlikable characters to begin with, has them make worse and worse choices, doesn't for one second show them actually acknowledging the badness of those choices, has a brief throwaway line indicating ONE of them MIGHT be changing their ways for a second, and calls that good. There's no character growth, and character growth was desperately needed here. The premise is a fun one - we don't see a lot of stories told from inside the university admissions office - but the characters were thoroughly unlikable from beginning to end. 1 star.

Flickchart: #1677 out of 1956, below Thoroughly Modern Millie and above Thr3e.