Laughs continue in Lampoon's Van Wilder
By Nicole Rodriguez
College is said to be the best four years of a person's life � that is of course unless you're Van Wilder, title character of Artisan Entertainment's coming-of-age story, National Lampoon's Van Wilder.
Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds) is a 25-year-old student set to embark upon his seventh year of undergraduate studies at Coolidge College, and he couldn't be more thrilled.
He's the most popular guy on campus, he's just hired his own personal assistant and has his pick of any girl he wants. Life is good. That is, until Wilder's dad decides he's had enough and refuses to foot anymore bills.
In an attempt to cover his financial debts, Wilder decides to become the campus party planner, planning the most successful gatherings Coolidge has ever seen. In his efforts, he attracts the attentions of beautiful journalism student Gwen Pearson (Tara Reid), as well as those of her jealous boyfriend who sets out to ruin Wilder for good.
In an age when teen movies are a dime a dozen, it is hard for a film to make a distinction in the genre. Although not entirely successful in its attempt to attain originality, Van Wilder does make a good effort.
It is filled with gross-out humor quite similar to that endured in American Pie, complete with ingestion of bodily fluids (in this case a dog's) and over-dosage of laxatives a la Jeff Daniels in Dumb and Dumber.
There is nothing new and original in the gags Van Wilder boasts or in any other aspect of the plot. But then, who expected there to be?
What makes Van Wilder a good movie is not its novelty, but rather its ability to make the cliched teen comedy sequence feel entertaining. Unlike predecessors such as Dude, Where's My Car? and Not Another Teen Movie, Van Wilder boasts a surprisingly witty script to tie its predictable sequences together.
This, combined with good direction, decent acting, and a great soundtrack make Van Wilder one of the better teen movies currently in theaters.
Reynolds, who made his debut in TV's "Two Guys and a Girl," takes his first leading man turn as Wilder, and the effort proves to be quite successful.
He is charismatic and charming, yet still hilariously funny. The best part is that it seems to come naturally to Reynolds. His performance is never overdone or exaggerated, but believable and realistic.
He could easily be the guy living in the dorm room down the hall. It is because of this boy-next-door appeal that the audience can't help but love him. And that's a big part of what makes this movie work.
Reid, who is by far the big name of the production, doesn't manage to come anywhere near Reynolds's level of achievement. As Wilder's love interest, one would think her character would at least be likeable.
However, Gwen is bland and by far the most easily forgettable character of the production. It seems the only thing Reid does do well is strut around and try to look cute as she poorly feigns a conservative personality.
Next to Reynolds's incredible performance, she looks incredibly miscast. However, Reid's lack of skill seems to be the film's only drawback so far as acting is concerned.
In addition to Reynolds, memorable performances are also given by Kal Penn as Wilder's hilariously clueless personal assistant, Animal House's Tim Matheson as Van's father, and Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Daniel Cosgrove as Gwen's jealous premed boyfriend Richard.
Although lacking in originality, the acting and scripting of Van Wilder achieves its purpose well, creating the most enjoyable teen comedy released recently. National Lampoon's Van Wilder is not going to be the best flick you see this year, but it is certainly worth a viewing. B+