Synopsis: Don’t Graduate. Celebrate.
You’ll never think of bulldogs, pastries, protein shakes or tutors in the same way again… National Lampoon’s Van Wilder stars Ryan Reynolds as a 7th year student who has no plans to graduate. Life is good for Van; he’s got a coed in every closet and a party to go to every night. His slick reputation even catches the eye of sexy Gwen Pearson (Tara Reid), and on campus reporter determined to expose the naked truth behind his wild exterior. When Gwen enters his life and his father stops paying his tuition, could Van’s days as the king of Coolidge College be over? Find out for yourself in this outrageous laughfest that you’ve sure to go “nuts” over!
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Van Wilder 6.5
This generation’s ‘Animal House’? Not quite. I actually hardly laughed at all, in fact. I saw the jokes, but they weren’t funny and/or weren’t delivered with any skill at all.
And the leading man, Ryan Reynolds, was terrible. He basically did a poor man’s Mark Wahlberg crossed with Jason Lee (unlike Reynolds, Lee would at least had some presence!). It could even have been a vehicle for Chevy Chase, had he been 40 year younger. As for Van Wilder’s nemesis, he was a poor man’s Sean William Scott.
Sigh… why not just get the real thing? With the proper cast (and talent!), this might have been alright, actually. Not brilliant, but better than this cold set of leftovers could ever be.