Search - National Lampoon's Van Wilder [UMD for PSP] on UMD for PSP

And you thought American Pie had a weird dessert theme...

Troy Kearney | Shreveport LA | 10/19/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"National Lampoon brought the raunchy and raucous college world to the mainstream kids back in the 1970's with Animal House, which would go on to virtually springboard the careers of several of its stars, including John Belushi and Tim Matheson.

But for those of us who may have been born after the original release of AH and raised on films like the American Pie trilogy get a new version of Animal House for the new generation with Van Wilder.



Van (Ryan Reynolds) is the virtual definition of a slacker in the college world, having spent seven years attending Coolidge College. He is pretty much the life of the party and he revels in it greatly. It's only until his dad (Matheson) finds out that Van is still in school and places a halt to Van's tuition payment that he realizes that it's time to get his head in the game and find a way to graduate and pay tuition.



A story printed by the school's star reporter Gwen (Tara Reid) causes Van to become a party planner and raise the money for his tuition, along with the help of his closest friend (Teck Holmes of "Real World" fame) and his personal assistant (Kal Penn). When a relationship develops between Van and Gwen, Gwen's pretentious boyfriend Richard tries to put a wedge between them. When Van learns of this, he gets a little revenge in one of the most ingenious and disgusting ways ever devised (trust me, this has the humping a pie thing beaten hands down, no pun intended...)



Van Wilder is pretty hilarious in spots and somewhat disgusting in others, particularly the classic payback Van pulls on Richard and later on when Gwen also gets a little revenge on Richard when she learns a little something that Richard did behind Gwen's back. Also, Penn and Holmes have some gut-busting moments in support and is it nice to see Matheson deciding to continue his association with National Lampoon by bridging the gap between Animal House and Van Wilder.



A word of advice, though: if you have a weak stomach, this is not the movie for you. But if have that type of sense of humor that thinks that letting one rip loudly in public causes you to double over with laughter, then definitely check out Van Wilder."

Comedy, Poetry, Hot Chick

DebW | 10/10/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'll begin with a confession: I was reluctant to watch this film. It was snobbish on my part. A recent interview with Tara Reid in MAXIM portrayed the actress as a shallow ditz, and I doubted that the voluntary suspension of disbelief would succeed in allowing me to see her as serious college student Gwen Pearson. This was the crux of my objection to NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VAN WILDER. My husband cleverly defeated my opposition with the "Yes, but she's a really hot chick" argument, and we bought the DVD. To my surprise, Reid pulls off the act, dropping words like "pander" and phrases like "benevolent agenda" as if they had belonged in her personal vocabulary bank all along. The writing goes far beyond clever. It's down right poetic, with lines dance on the ear like a butterfly on a buttercup. Take, for example, "That's no bong! That's for my shlong!" Watch out Shakespeare.Best of all, the movie answers the age-old question: What was Ferris Bueller like in college? Van Wilder (Ryan Reynonds) fits the mold rather closely. He's a philanthropist who knows how to have a good time. He's funny, good looking, and popular with just about everyone. Brilliant ideas like topless tutors and the naked mile run are a-dime-a-dozen with this guy. Most importantly, he gets away with everything. I'm glad I didn't get away with turning my nose up at this delightfully amusing film. So even if you're skeptical, give it a try, and don't neglect to consider that Tara Reid's a really hot chick."

Totally fun college flick!

Troy Kearney | 02/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Comedies are my favorite films, and I love this movie, one of the best I've seen in a long time. I've seen several teen-flick comedies, but this one takes the cake, even over "Road Trip" which I thought was a hoot. Perfect timing on all the quips and humor, and this comedy is just plain college fun. Yeah, there's a small message in there about growing up and realizing your potential, but it's woven in pretty well without the sappiness. Small scenes in this movie make me laugh just thinking about them. One of those scenes is when Van is in remorse over his loss of Gwen. A freshman girl walks in asking how he's doing, and he bursts into "I'm all out of love...I'm so lost without you..." and strums a very poor chord on his guitar. It was great and totally unexpected. I love that scene! The writers out did themselves on the script. This is a smart comedy that cleverly weaves the characters and story together. I've seen other comedies that were complete paradies of other movies with no plot but scene after scene of horrible gags and imitations of other movies. Apparently there is a market out there in copy-cat world that is alive and kicking. Since the movie is set in the tradition of National Lampoon, Ryan Reynolds combines some character traits of Chevy Chase, Jim Carrey and Bill Murray to complete his Van Wilder persona, but he still maintains that lovable charm. He is treated as a celebrity in his school, but eveyone loves him because he sincerely cares for them and knows how to have a "pimpin' good time" doing it. This is not a typical "teen underdog becomes popular and gets revenge on his school bullies" story. If you dig deep the real conflict of the story is with Van Wilder himself and his reluctance to graduate and move on into the real world. But that's neither here nor there -- it's more fun to think about him as the Party Liaison or the Raddest ...Dude Alive. Kal Penn holds his own as Van Wilder's assistant Taj. He just adds that much more to the comedy and practically stole the show. Tara Reid porbably did her best role as Gwen in this movie. That's about it. Great movie with lots of laughs. Gotta see it."

Greatest movie of our generation.

Matthew Edmundson | 09/01/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All right, maybe not, but a top-notch movie nonetheless. I watch this movie with my fraternity brothers on a daily basis. Any male between the ages of 16 and 24 must own this movie.The interview with Taj is the funniest scene in any movie in decades.Write that down."