Video Review

NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VAN WILDER (2002)

EW's GRADE
C-

Details Release Date: Aug 20, 2002; Movie Rated: R; Genre: Comedy; With: Tara Reid and Ryan Reynolds; Distributor: Artisan Entertainment

The brain trust behind Lampoon's latest campus comedy tries very hard to recapture the toga!-toga!-toga! mayhem of Animal House, going so far as to cast Tim Matheson -- that film's charismatic hell-raiser, Otter -- as the father of Reynolds' eponymous rapscallion. Unfortunately, a kegload of wackiness combined with a thimbleful of wit just doesn't do the job. To be fair, Reynolds and Reid (as a budding journalist) acquit themselves admirably enough in the face of novice director Walt Becker's ham-fisted non-vision. But, ultimately, the only question left is why Artisan thought this stinker worthy of a two-disc release.

Originally posted Sep 06, 2002 Published in issue #670 Sep 06, 2002 Order article reprints

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