Van Wilder: Freshman Year - Unrated
by Harvey Glazer
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DVD details
Actor: Jonathan Bennett, Kristin Cavallari, Kurt Fuller, Nestor Aaron Absera, Steve TalleyDirector: Harvey Glazer
Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
Producer: Andrew Panay
Producer: Ari Newman
Producer: Darin Spillman
Producer: Kat Blasband Page
Writer: Brent Goldberg
Writer: David Wagner
Writer: Todd McCullough
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-07-14
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of Van Wilder: Freshman Year - Unrated
DVD Review: If replacing Ryan Reynolds, don't try to BE Ryan Reynolds - you can't do it
Summary: 1 Stars
Van Wilder wanted to be a one-man reinvention of the college comedy for a new generation. It wanted to be an Animal House in its own right. Hell, it would've settled for the attention of Old School. It got none of these. Instead it drifted off to the side and only ever gets mention for one reason: Ryan Reynolds. There may be plenty of familiar faces crowding around his on the screen, but it was the charms of Reynolds that made Van Wilder work even a little. Then the sequel ditched Ryan Reynolds but still managed to hold onto a respectable up-and-comer Kal Penn, who had established himself as a comic figurehead in his own right thanks to Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. Thus, you might think that with the third Van Wilder movie they would have latched on to a similarly rising star in the comedy world to lead the cast - but alas, they fell short.
Van Wilder: Freshman Year finds Jonathan Bennett reprising Reynolds' titular role but unable to fill the shoes - which weren't all that large to begin with. As Van, Reynolds oozed charm and humility in the way he's become known for. Bennett makes obvious attempts to recreate his predecessor's mannerisms but to no avail. This is one of those unfortunate instances where, in attempting to imitate the original mannerisms and speech patterns of the star who originally embodied the character, Jonathan's attempts at mimicking Reynolds make it worse than if he'd taken it in his own direction. But the fault isn't entirely his own.
The writers force him into that unfairly narrow box from the first moments of the film where Van is revealed to already be at the top of his schmoozing game. Instead of being allowed to grow from an average freshman into a silver-tongued, seven-year-bound college man, Bennett has to be Reynolds with no time for any other exploration of the character. Let's think about this. Van Wilder was in college for about seven years since he graduates at the end of the original and there's some line thrown in there as to him being there for 6-7 years. You could make an argument that it was his ability to be a ladies' man from day one that would make the college atmosphere a place he'd never want to leave - or you could say that it was his transformation into a ladies' man while at college that would make him afraid to leave lest he lose control of the persona he's built since freshman year. The latter assumes Van Wilder entered college like any other teenager and blossomed into the alpha male slacker he appears as in the original film; the former explanation stunts any need for growth in the character and makes any prequels pointless.
The irony of this entire situation is not that the original film forced the prequel into the corner - but that it did it to itself. There's no reason Van has to enter college as Don Juan - but the writers of Van Wilder: Freshman Year apparently thought they couldn't have any fun otherwise and so took the coward's way out. What we're left with is the exact same dynamics of the first film: Van falls for and subsequently courts the girlfriend of the campus's head jock. As the girl falls for Van the jock swears revenge resulting in a showdown between Van, the jock and the uptight dean who just can't tolerate Wilder's loose behavior.
The even crueler irony of it all is that Bennett actually could have been pretty funny if he hadn't had to wear a Ryan Reynolds mask the entire time. He's not a great actor by any means (yet, but neither was Reynolds) - but considering that the most respectable veteran actor they could tie into the film was Kurt Fuller (the weasly number-two man of so many films) what are you really expecting acting-wise? Kristin Cavallari is Van's love interest and the best part is that when you try to compare her to Tara Reid, you realize `what's the point?' Reid isn't known for her acting; she's known for being blonde and beautiful. Cavallari actually is a better actress than Reid, but you'd never know it thanks to the writers on this Van Wilder prequel. Instead of opportunities for a younger generation to shine, we get recycled jokes about funny-sounding foreign names and dogs with disproportionately large testicles.
DVD Extra Features:
For such a subpar film, they certainly packed the DVD with plenty of extra features. First there's the traditional commentary featuring our aforementioned stars as well as director Harv Glazer. I don't know what I was expecting from the commentary from a movie such as this, but I think it met my expectations. Glazer knows he didn't make a film up for any awards, and I think he secretly knows that the prequel is a step down from the already mediocre Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj - but in his defense he had precious little to work with right off the bat. This perspective comes through clearer in the "making of" piece "Creating the Legend: The Making of Van Wilder: Freshman Year". Yeah, they all knew the pedigree of the project before they started. Finally there's a piece on one of the many rehashed jokes used in the movie: Colossus, the dog with huge balls. Beyond that there's a smattering of decidedly short featurettes which warrant watching only from 12-year-old males having sleepovers. If you are not that demographic, they weren't made for you.
Description of Van Wilder: Freshman Year - Unrated
The man. The myth. The beginning. It?s freshman year at Coolidge College and Van Wilder (Jonathan Bennett) is ready to party. To his dismay, all the girls have taken a vow of chastity and an uptight Dean (Kurt Fuller) rules the school. Van embarks on an epic crusade to land the campus hottie, Kaitlin (Kristin Cavallari) and liberate his school from sexual oppression and party dysfunction. No cheerleader will be left untouched and no keg will be left un-tapped in this hilarious prequel to the original!DVD Features:
? Commentary: Commentary with Director Harv Glazer and Cast
? Featurette: Creating The Legend: The Making of Van Wilder: Freshman Year
? Featurette: Going Balls Out: Colossus
? Featurette: Coolidge College: Orientation Video
? Featurette: Decatur
? Featurette: Teacher's Pets
? Bloopers: Bloopers
? Featurette: Van's Party Supplies
? Featurette: Pranks 101
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