National Lampoon’s Van Wilder

Directed by Walt Becker, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder follows Ryan Reynolds’ title character as he decides to finally take his college career seriously after falling for a pretty journalist (Tara Reid’s Gwen). Filmmaker Becker, armed with Brent Goldberg and David T. Wagner’s screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced yet mostly underwhelming comedy that’s rarely, if ever, able to wholeheartedly capture and sustain the viewer’s interest, and it’s clear, certainly, that the picture’s arms-length feel is compounded by its dearth of laughs and compelling characters – with the latter reflected most keenly in Reynolds’ smug, mostly obnoxious turn as the less-than-sympathetic protagonist. (Reid’s predictably wooden work here isn’t much better, to be sure.) It’s clear, then, that National Lampoon’s Van Wilder‘s extremely mild success is due mostly to the pervasively affable feel that’s been baked into it, with the movie, which boasts a very, very small handful of disgusting yet funny comedic bits (eg Van’s nemesis is tricked into eating a pastry stuffed with dog semen), eventually progressing a comfortably familiar third act that ensures it concludes on a relatively satisfying note – which, when coupled with a mercifully short running time, cements the film’s place as an entirely forgettable endeavor that could’ve been much worse.

** out of ****