National Lampoon's Van Wilder

R

Released Mar 29, 2002

1 hr. 35 min.

Comedy

List

18%

98 Reviews

Tomatometer

73%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

He's the biggest man on campus. He's the boss with the sauce. He's the guy all the girls want and all the guys want to be. 'Cause in the collegiate jungle, there can be only one king ... and at Coolidge College it's Van Wilder. In the grand tradition of comedy classics like "National Lampoon's Animal House" and "National Lampoon's Vacation," "National Lampoon's Van Wilder" will charm you, move you and gross you out.

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Critics Consensus

A derivative gross-out comedy that's short on laughs.

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Cash S

National Lampoon's Van Wilder is the first college sex comedy type film I've seen, and while I'm not ready to say they're not my thing, if they're all the same quality as this I might. The best part of this movie, is the whole reason I watched it. Ryan Reynolds. I'm a big Ryan Reynolds fan. He's probably tied with The Rock as my favorite celebrity. It's very interesting to see a young Ryan Reynolds bringing his charm since the beginning. The movie does have quite a few jokes that made me laugh, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun with some moments in here. While I did laugh at some jokes, that are also a whole bunch of jokes that didn't land. They have a lot of gross out gags, one in particular with a dog, and while at first I'd chuckle a little, the next second I wouldn't be into it. They have some forced drama and romance that didn't really work. This definitely isn't unwatchable, and some clever jokes along with Ryan Reynolds charisma even make parts of it pretty fun, but it's far from a good movie, and it could've been better.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/26/24

Full Review

Randy W

Hilarious! Must see! Don't listen to the critics. One of the best!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/19/23

Full Review

Qasim R

Don't waste your time by watching this.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/26/23

Full Review

Jeffrey G

Simply awful. Must have been written by a sixth grader.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/18/23

Full Review

Marc Z

This movie is funny and bawdy and has many of the traits of a National Lampoon's comedy. The problem is that is has not really held up as well of some of the other films in the stable of National Lampoon's films-like Animal House. Ryan Reynolds is funny as the obnoxious, seven (7) year college student that became the basis of several subsequent films. The are many sight gags, which call for immediate gratification. There are a lot of them, and they almost make the basis for the film. There are also many familiar faces from prior films, like Tim Matheson and Paul Gleason. There are also many future stars, like Kai Penn and Simon Helberg. Tara Reid is actually very appealing as the School reporter trying to insulate herself from Wilder's charms while getting a big news story. A fun watch, but not the best.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

07/30/23

Full Review

Red T

It was honestly surprisingly ok. The acting was passable despite forgettable characters and a subpar snob villain. The secret is Ryan Reynolds who actually is not bad at all and has a surprising degree of charm and charisma he brings to this and elevates this to passable from bad. The cinematography is ok overall despite some basic camerawork and some memorable party locations its all off set by dumb jokes half the time that are filled with gross out humor and toilet jokes that are way too over the top and dragged out to be funny. Everything else from music, editing and pacing is just ok. There are a couple moments that Ryan Reynolds got a slight smile out of me because of the charm, its a shame he wasn't given something more clever to work with here. If your a fan of Ryan Reynolds I'd say give this a try. Otherwise skip it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

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Walt Becker

Director

Ryan Reynolds

Van Wilder

Tara Reid

Gwen

Tim Matheson

Vance Wilder, Sr.

Kal Penn

Taj

Teck Holmes

Hutch

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

The grossest, most disgusting humor imaginable.

Rated: 1/5

Dec 26, 2010

Full Review

Scott Foundas

Variety

Strangely likable and only about half as puerile as the average MTV reality series.

Aug 8, 2008

Full Review

Empire Magazine

Rated: 3/5

Dec 30, 2006

Full Review

Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

How this film received an R rating is beyond me. The gross factor alone is enough to warrant a new categorization by the MPAA.

Nov 13, 2019

Full Review

Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

All things considered, National Lampoon's Van Wilder just doesn't fit the National Lampoon brand.

May 2, 2018

Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

Rude, crude, obnoxious, disgusting, and unfunny...

Rated: 1/4

Apr 29, 2009

Full Review

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Synopsis

He's the biggest man on campus. He's the boss with the sauce. He's the guy all the girls want and all the guys want to be. 'Cause in the collegiate jungle, there can be only one king ... and at Coolidge College it's Van Wilder. In the grand tradition of comedy classics like "National Lampoon's Animal House" and "National Lampoon's Vacation," "National Lampoon's Van Wilder" will charm you, move you and gross you out.

Director: Walt Becker
Executive Producer: Kirk D'Amico, Lucas Foster, Philip von Alvensleben
Screenwriter: Brent Goldberg, David Wagner
Distributor: Artisan Entertainment
Production Co: Myriad Pictures
Rating: R (Language|Gross Humor|Some Drug Content|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 29, 2002, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 20, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $21.0M
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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