Well, it’s no “Animal House.” And I, along with many others apparently, fell for the marketing ploy of this movie being labeled under the once fabled Nation Lampoon title- hoping vainly for a college comedy to challenge the classics. However, without comparing it to the past, it is a funny movie. Not evenly funny, but the good parts will have you choking on your popcorn and accidentally spitting soda all over your date.
I have to admit the story idea is one I find appealing as I prepare to graduate: Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds) is a seventh-year under-grad student. Wilder is of course the most popular and biggest partier at imaginary Coolidge College, he even hires an assistant each year to help him accomplish this.
He’s so popular that a reporter from the school paper is sent out to cover him for a series of articles (played by Tara Reid- whose acting is so bad she should have played a mute). Van had no intention of graduating any time soon until his rich father decides to cut off the tuition money (ironically the kill-joy father is played by Tim Matheson, one of the original bad boys in “Animal House”).
Aided by his buddy (Teck Holmes- yes from the Real World) and his assistant, an exchange student from India whose only goal is to lose his virginity. Wilder sets out to raise money for his tuition by renting himself out as a party planner and thinking up money-making ventures such as “topless tutors”.
Here is my main problem with the movie. We are expected to believe this large school has only one big-man on campus, while everyone else seems to be socially inept and can’t party without him.
Meanwhile, no one seems to mind the fact that he pimps a supped-up golf cart. Ok, its funny in the movie, but I doubt if we had a seven-year student who tooled around Reef Road in a golf cart, I would even want him at my party, let alone plan it.
The things that definitely make the movie are the side characters and the gross-out gags. There is one part which involves custard filled éclairs (use your imagination) which might make the whole movie worth going to see. However, its kind of sad that the most of the comedic “genius” of our generation will be attributed to things on the level of fart jokes.
I suppose I’m so unimpressed with the character of Van Wilder, because growing up I had true slackers as role models: Zack Morris and Ferris Bueller. And as you watch Wilder, you almost roll your eyes at some of the things he does, for instance, parking in his rival professor’s parking spot.
It’s cheesy and we’ve all seen it before. Watching a character like Ferris Bueller, you get the feeling that he’s really out there somewhere driving around in his friend’s father’s Ferrari, pulling off all those stunts.
As long as you go to this movie simply looking for a couple laughs you won’t be disappointed. Just don’t go looking for our generation’s Belushi; I just feel bad my little brother doesn’t have a decent slacker to look up to.
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