Van Wilder

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Van Wilder (played by Ryan Reynolds) is a party animal who has spent the better part of a decade staying in college. His father (played by Tim Matheson) cuts him off, telling Van to come with his own funding. Student journalist Gwen (played by Tara Reid) is tasked with getting an interview with Van for the school paper. Over time, Van and Gwen start falling for each other, which upsets Gwen's asshole boyfriend, Dick (played by Daniel Cosgrove). A rivalry begins between Van and Daniel. This is a simple story that we've seen played out before. Van Wilder doesn't do it great, but it does the job well enough. There are two things that this movie hinges on in order for it to work. One of them is the performance by Ryan Reynolds (something of an unknown at the time this movie came out), and he does a really good job. The other is the chemistry between Reynolds and Tara Reid. Their relationship has to be believable. Surprisingly enough, it is. Tara Reid sort of surprised me in this movie. Reid has never exactly been the strongest actress in the world, but I actually liked her in this movie. This movie also randomly has a pre-fame Aaron Paul in it. He doesn't really have anything to do with the story. But, it did make me laugh to see him in the movie, and I just felt like bringing it up. I do think this movie is decently funny for the most part. It didn't really make me burst out in laughter very often though. A lot of this comes from the movie's tendency to lean on gross-out humor, almost treating it as a crutch. I also had this sense that some of the jokes didn't really age particularly well (this movie is from the early 2000s). I still got some laughs out those jokes, I'll admit. This movie also falls into the trap of using my personal least favorite cliche (the break-up/misunderstanding). It feels forced within the context of the movie's story, and actually just feels like a set up for more conflict. It seems to happen in every romantic comedy ever. This movie doesn't really do anything new with this cliche. The whole thing does fall on the side of predictability (this was just the only time it actually bothered me in any way). Overall, I enjoyed Van Wilder. It has its flaws, but I am glad I watched it. 

6 / 10