Van Wilder
Review
by : Gareth Von Kallenbach
Starring:
Ryan Reynolds (Van), Tara Reid (Gwen)
Directed by: Walt Becker
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The college party film is one of the most familiar of films
to anyone who has watched teen comedies. Perhaps the most
famous of the line would be "Animal House", where the
late John Belushi had audiences in stitches with the antics
of the Delta House misfits. Recently audiences have flocked
to films such as "Road Trip, and the "American Pie" series,
packing theaters the world over. It was no surprise when the
folks who made "Animal House" (National Lampoon) decided to
get in on the craze and give us a college romp for the new
millennium.
Enter
"Van Wilder", the story of a man's quest to find love, direction,
and a good time. Ryan Reynolds plays the title character,
a big man on campus who is always ready to offer help, advice,
and friendship to those who need him. Naturally he is loved
by all; well, that is all except the staff whose parking space
he takes on a regular basis and who become the butt of some
of his sprinkler jokes. Van is the man as far as the students
of his college are concerned, as he has a lavish room and
lifestyle for himself courtesy of his wealthy father, Vance
Wilder SR (Tim Matheson). Van is so popular he needs his best
friend Hutch (Real World's Tek Holmes), to hire an
assistant to help him with his schedule.
Enter
Taj (Kal Penn), a student from India who is interested in
learning the joys of getting down and wants Van to be his
mentor. Life could not be better for the trio, that is until
Van is cut off by his father who refuses to pay for his education,
as seven years of college has yet to result in a degree.
With his
world falling around him, Van finds creative ways to finance
his education and lifestyle by providing various services
to the students. Among them is as a party planner where he
become all the rage amongst his peers. A campus reporter named
Gwen (Tara Reid) is assigned to get the story on Van for the
school paper and predictably the two start to become close.
The budding friendship draws Van the wrath of Gwen's uptight,
conservative, and shallow boyfriend Richard (Daniel Cosgrove),
as he wants Van to disappear as fast as he entered the picture.
Towards
this end, Richard and his frat buddies take steps to remove
Van from the equation. Sure it is very predictable as we have
seen this all before: the girl with the loser boyfriend, the
oversexed best friend, the stoner, the clueless faculty, and
an abundance of gross jokes, many of which involve bodily
functions and fluids.
Despite
the gross style of humor, there are some solid laughs in the
film. I found myself laughing along despite a story that was
very predictable and one that I had seen countless of times
in teen movies to numerous to name. However while the film
does not have much in the way of originality, it does have
some good laughs and a good nature to it. The cast is enjoyable
and though we know what is going to happen, we have a good
time being along for the ride. Check your brain at the door
and enjoy the laughs.
Gareth
Von Kallenbach
Gareth@nwlink.com
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