Trailer Talk: 'Admission' Offers No Clue on Story, Laughs

You can’t always trust a movie trailer.

The first time that lesson burned within me was when I saw a spot for a riotous new comedy called “Problem Child.” Big trailer laughs. Lousy full-length movie. Lesson learned.

We’re aggressively giving the benefit of the trailer doubt to “Admission,” the upcoming Focus Features comedy starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd. The “30 Rock” star plays a woman who works in an admissions office … who doesn’t know the first thing about caring for children … who reunites with an old college pal (Paul Rudd) … who discovers she might have an adult son she never knew existed … who duels with a colleague for a big promotion …

Frankly, it’s hard to track the story in play here, which could spell doom for the film’s box office chances. It’s even more challenging to glean any laughs from the trailer, a far worse sin.

Fey and Rudd should be a crackerjack comedy team. Fey proved with “Baby Mama” she can carry a big-screen comedy, and Rudd is simply the least heralded comic actor working today.

The trailer for “Admission” tries mightily to ignore those bullet points.