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 and the misfits within. Recently audiences have flocked
to films such as Road Trip, and the American Pie
series have packed theaters the world over so 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 mans 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 Worlds, 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 Gwens 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.