For the first 10 minutes at least, "Stealing Harvard" appears to be a silly-to-the-point-of-amusing little film. And then Tom Green shows up and ruins everything.

　　       OK, that's not completely true. There are a lot of people who could be blamed for this lame comedy — especially the screenwriters and director who gave former-MTV star Green free rein to practice his particularly unfunny brand of humor.

　　       The minute Green's character appears on the screen, you can practically feel the energy and creativity bleeding out of the movie, which has other problems as well.

　　       Green's continual, irksome presence also seems to indicate that the filmmakers didn't trust their star, Jason Lee, to carry the picture on his own.

　　       Lee, who's done a solid job in a variety of supporting roles in other films, stars here as John Plummer, an assistant manager at a medical 英语影评 store who is barely eking out an existence. Nevertheless, he's got a fianc?e, Elaine (Leslie Mann), who expects big things from him.

　　       If that isn't bad enough, John's also got a prospective father-in-law (Dennis Farina) breathing down his back and a niece (Tammy Blanchard) he's promised to support at Harvard.

　　       So, seeing no other options, he turns to petty crime — abetted by his pal, Walter "Duff" Duffy (Green), who is little help in a pinch, and whose suggestions all pretty much go awry.

　　       That's all you really need to know about the plot, except that it affords several opportunities for Green to clown around (yes, that does mean that he licks things and smashes into things). That might be funny if you're a 12-year-old boy, but otherwise it's agonizing. (Pity poor Lee, who has to serve as second fiddle to Green and endures other cinematic humiliations that aren't worth going into.)

　　       This picture isn't a good move for director Bruce McCulloch, either. His career has taken a real nose-dive since his stint with Canada's comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall. His sense of comic timing seems to be off here (and the movie feels twice as long as its scant running time).