Admission

Animated family film The Croods won the box office this weekend, pulling in $44.7 million in its debut. Another of the week's new releases, Olympus Has Fallen, took second place with $30.5 million, followed by last week's winner, Oz the Great and Powerful, with $22 million. Halle Berry's thriller The Call took fourth with $8.7 million, while Tina Fey and Paul Rudd's romantic comedy Admission only earned $6.4 million and fifth place for its first weekend of release. Spring Breakers followed with $5 million in its nationwide opening.

In Admission, Tina Fey and Paul Rudd play opposite each other in a collaboration that's loaded with potential, but their onscreen chemistry falls surprisingly flat. Fey plays Portia, a staunchly by-the-books Princeton admissions officer who gets a call from John (Rudd) to make a routine visit to his alternative school and talk to his students about college. He has an ulterior motive for luring her to the campus in the form of Jeremiah (Nat Wolff), a bright student he believes to be her birth son, but Portia has no idea until she's already immersed in their lives. The angle is far-fetched, but it could work if so many other components weren't jammed into the script.

Though it's billed as a romantic comedy, the romance between John and Portia feels forced and detracts from the story. Their combating dispositions serve as an obvious "opposites attract" romantic mechanism, but it's stale, especially given that Rudd and Fey's dynamic feels more like that of siblings. When they finally — spoiler alert — do get together, there's not much emotional payoff. To find out what else I think about Admission, just read more.

It's hard not to fall instantly in love with Tina Fey. She's wicked smart, obviously funny, and a mom of two — Alice, 7, and Penelope, 1 — dealing with bake sales and working motherhood, just like us. From her time as the first female head writer (and series regular) on Saturday Night Live to her multiple roles as the creator and star of 30 Rock, she's kept us laughing our way through political cycles and television studio politics. Now, she's taking a romantic comedy turn in Admission (in theaters March 22) as a Princeton University admissions officer who must face an applicant who could be the son she gave up for adoption 18 years ago. Lest you think the story becomes sappy, keep in mind that Tina stars alongside Paul Rudd in the flick, so the wisecracks fly nonstop.

I spent some time with the film's stars at a roundtable and asked them about their own experiences with parenting, where they turn for advice, and how realistic it is that our kids could actually attend Princeton. First up, Tina's thoughts.

There was a spot-on scene in the last 30 Rock where — as a new mom — you join an online chat group for moms and get into a catfight. Do you go to mommy blogs in real life?
That was definitely built on experience with things I have seen. I have never . . . I don't know how to post on any of those. So I promise you I have never posted. I have seen people pretending to be me post on Urban Baby. I had a friend call me and say, "Are you on Urban Baby?" I said no. I didn't know what that was. I do think some of them — Urban Baby specifically — have some of the worst human behavior I've ever seen in my life. Terrible. There is no one running [those sites] or they would fix it.

At one point in the film, Portia says where your kid gets into college is a reflection of your parenting. Do you think that's true?
I do think the line is very true. People think it is a referendum on their parenting, it's about how well they did. It's a dangerous trap that we all fall into. Like, I will go too far, like, "we're going to make the nicest cookies for the cookie thing." And then later they are on the ground and it doesn't matter. I think avoiding those kind of traps and just trying to be present for your children is best. It’s a lifelong lesson that I keep trying to learn.

What do you know now that you didn't before you had kids?
I think when your kids are really little, you just think, OK, I am going to look at What to Expect the First Year. But I got into a rut. I would still be treating the 11-month-old with the routine I had set up at 6 months. You kinda learn the longer you do it that their needs keep changing what they need and what they're capable of.

Your daughter Alice is in grade school. Do you think it's harder to get into Princeton or an NYC kindergarten?
A New York City kindergarten, for sure! There's so many kids on this little island. Plus, how can you possibly evaluate a 5-year-old? What if you take them that day and have to poop? If they have to poop, it’s over.

Keep reading for more of our interview with Tina Fey, including what interested her most about her new role.

You know how you love Tina Fey, and you also love Paul Rudd? What if someone were to magically put them together on the screen for your viewing pleasure? Guess what — someone did! The trailer for Admission has Fey as Portia, an admissions administrator at Princeton in line for a promotion. One day, she gets a call from John (Rudd) asking her to come on a recruiting trip to check out some of his students. Little does she know, it's a ploy to get her to meet Jeremiah (Nat Wolff), who John believes may be the son Portia gave up in college. Twist!

Though the trailer for Admission provides plenty of jokes, there's an underlying seriousness that we don't always see from these actors. I love Fey, but we've seen her play the driven single female character into the ground. It's refreshing to see that there's more to Portia than a determination to rewrite the rules for middle-aged women. Look forward to Admission's release on March 8, and until then, watch the trailer after the jump.