National Lampoon’s Van Wilder
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Tara Reid
Directed by: Walt Harper
by Matthew McCluskey
Let me just say right from the beginning that I would have seen this movie even if I did not have to review it. Chances are that most people going to see this film are between 14 and 21 years old, have male genitalia or a reasonable facsimile, and could not care less what Leonard Maltin or Roger Ebert (or for that matter, me) say. The explanation for the film’s R-rating says it all: “Strong sexual content, gross humor, language and some drug content.” Do not be discouraged by the lack of “Nudity.” There are shots of an attractive topless female. [Wipe brow and say “Phew.”] This film gives consistent, maximum bang for your sophomoric buck, often without a plot or well-constructed characters to stand in the way of the puerile content.
The story is thinner than a flatulent exotic dancer’s fishnet stockings, but if you are going to this film seeking a tightly crafted plot you are obviously not familiar with the gross-out genre. But the story line is enough to hang a bunch of running gags and a few very revolting scenes on, and that is all we really require. Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds) is in his seventh year at Coolidge College; his personal slogan is “Don’t be a fool, stay in school,” and he is a campus legend. His best friend is Hutch, and the two soon hold auditions for a new assistant. The eventual choice is Taj (Kal Penn), a hilarious sex-obsessed exchange student from India. Meanwhile, Wilder’s father discovers that he is still paying tuition for his son and after an uncomfortable confrontation, the younger Wilder is cut off.
Enter Tara Reid. She plays Gwen, the plucky reporter assigned to write a feature on Van Wilder. Of course, she is dating Richard (Daniel Cosgrove), an elitist, career-obsessed pre-med from the Delta Iota Kappa (DIK) fraternity. As Gwen delves deeper into Wilder’s true character, she develops an attraction to his laid-back altruism. We all know where this goes, but the oft-trodden route has some good laughs along the way. I will not spoil the main appeal of the film by revealing specific gags, but there are enough to keep you from staring longingly at the exit sign.
Outside of the lead actors, Van Wilder’s casting situates the film within a tradition of gross-out college comedy. The clearest example is Tim Matheson. In National Lampoon’s first college gross-out effort, Animal House, Matheson played Otter, the prototypical smooth-talking cocksure collegiate male. Now he plays Van Wilder’s father Vance. Curtis Armstrong, known almost solely for playing Booger in Revenge of the Nerds, plays a campus security guard. Even Tom Everett Scott of Dead Man on Campus plays the wise editor of the newspaper.
As a National Lampoon product, Van Wilder’s writing is decent. Brent Goldberg and David Wagner know how to write a joke, and when you put seventy of them in a row, it is typically called a film. If your memory serves you, these are the guys who wrote the hilarious Saving Ryan’s Privates (1998), an eight minute short film about a soldiers who attempt to save a “member” of their “unit.” They obviously did not set out to write Gone With The Wind, so we can let them slide for featuring gags about breaking wind.
Bottom line: this film is ninety or so minutes of body part and bodily function humor with Tara Reid and a few curvy coeds thrown in. Not exactly a date movie, but an excellent study break.
**
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Y tu Mam Tambi‚n
Starring: Luisa Cort‚s, Julio Zapata
Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron
by Kevin Murphy
One summer two teenage compatriots, Julio and Tenoch, are separated from their girlfriends studying abroad. Swearing fidelity prior to the girls’ summer-long departure, the boys immediately chase after new tail. Julio, played by veteran Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, of Amores Perros (2000), and Tenoch, played by Diego Luna Alexander, both came from well-to-do families. As chance would have it, at one of their political social events, they run into “the older woman,” Luisa Cortes, played by Maribel Verdu. Over the course of the film, Luisa pushes the boys sexual boundaries beyond the expectations of either preppy lad.
Directed and co-written by Alfonso Cuaron, director of such films as Great Expectations (1998) and A Little Princess (1995), Y Tu Mama Tambien is a confused film that attempts to cover a variety of social and personal topics. Sexuality, age, death, politics, and all manner of lifestyle try to make their way into the film. Sex, however, remains above all others.
Luisa is initially set up as an object of desire with little other ideological trappings to cover her station in the film. Framed as such, it isn’t difficult to justify her flight from her husband after his confessions of faithlessness. Jealous, sexual rage can justify anything for the young. Luisa, taking extended leave from her husband with the two boys bound for the beach, is quickly clothed in the symptoms of life experience. Through initially unexplained visits to the doctor, trivial crossword puzzles, and tearful phone conversations she becomes more alien to the boys’ world of hollow teen fantasy, but the road trip doesn’t stop there and we can await the collision of these two worlds with bated breath.
Unfortunately, the best of the film stops there. The cinematography, mostly hand-held as in a variety of other Mexican films, is uninventive. It’s fairly blatant what the camera is trying to establish but the image remains dull throughout. The structure of editing seems to be lack without beyond establishing visual metaphors that do not align with one another. In this manner sexual acts are foregrounded without any apparent substance underlying them.
Eventually the tireless quest for getting into peoples’ pants grows tiring and the audience begins to sleep. The sex scenes themselves are well structured towards their goals. Most of them are flat and dull, preceded by more dynamic foreplay footage, and culminating at the end of the film in glamour shot styling of a drunken three-way. Unfortunately, most all other aspects of the film are buried under this wave of sex, offering little substance at the end of the film.
***
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Changing Lanes
Starring: Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson
Directed by: Roger Michell
by Emily Fredrix
The scenario for Changing Lanes reads like something right out of traffic school. Two cars collide on the highway and one driver is reluctant to exchange information. A series of coincidences-greed, family and immorality-bind the two parties together. Can each driver get what he wants? And possibly revenge? Lesson learned?
If you’re going to speed away, do so immediately and always use your turn signal. Unfortunately for Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson and audiences nationwide starting Friday, the story isn’t that simple.
The premise of a hit and run gone awry sounds interesting and pertinent. But it also sounds like a brief story, meaning big problems when bumping up to feature length. To do so, the “road rage” experienced by the main characters, big shot New York lawyer Gavin Banek (Affleck) and recovering alcoholic-fighting-for-child-custody Doyle Gibson (Jackson), becomes a character in itself. Gibson ends up with a folder left by Gavin as he fled the scene for court, and of course this is vital to Gavin’s entire reality. (Who doesn’t have a folder like that?)
For the next two hours the characters plot and scheme (nearly killing each other, although quite passively), with Gibson hoping to have his credit re-established and save his family (necessary, thanks to Gavin) and Gavin trying to save his lawyer peeps. (And of course, his morality.) But no matter how many twists and turns are added, the story seems too simple because it’s too real. And unless you throw in some ghosts, ninjas or rabid bunnies, there’ll be no suspense either. For the average person, being swindled out of a few million dollars isn’t scary, although losing your credit history is. But that’s more of the bad-feeling-in-the-stomach type, different from the heart-pounding adrenaline movie rush.
Because I developed some rage of my own while watching the movie, I channeled my aggression into suggestions for the movie people.
1. Arnold Schwarzenegger should take over Jackson’s role. His rage was too repressed and respectable. Besides, the character repeats one line over and over: “Better luck next time.” Right up Arnie’s alley.
2. Switch Affleck with Jim Carrey. We already know he works wonders as a lying lawyer (excuse the redundancy). And Affleck, well, his frustration seems genuine.but something’s missing.
3. Matt Damon. Try as he might to prove himself alone, Affleck needs Damon to make a movie work. He failed in Pearl Harbor and I’m sorry I have to mention it-Bounce. Ben, we understand you want distance. But why end a good thing? Kiss and make up.
4. Surprise us. Instead of ending the predictable way (puhleeze, I’m ruining nothing), why not have Affleck and Jackson realize they are in love with each other? It would be perfect. Of course they have so much testosterone and rage, they’re repressing their sexuality. When they forgive each other and Jackson says, “Well, what do we do now?” the scene is perfect: nighttime, alone in Affleck’s office. He need only lean over, flip on some Usher and respond, “Let’s have another type of hit and run, if you know what I mean.”
5. Decide if sex will play a part. (If you do not heed suggestion 4, pay attention here.) Obviously, any ‘decent’ movie will have some sex involved (Carebears’ films exempt). Changing Lanes seems to have realized that at the end and threw in a bit, namely involving Toni Collette as the married Affleck’s coworker/lover. (Although we know the writers were tempted to use Jackson’s jailhouse scene.) She kisses his ear. Woo. Something that miniscule is hardly worth mentioning. Best to avoid gratuitous (and undeveloped) sexuality. Don’t be afraid to break the mold.
6. Somebody throw Collette a Triscuit. She looks so thin you can hear her stomach growling. Put those 40 pounds back on, spin some ABBA tunes and give us another installment of Muriel’s Wedding.
7. Definitely play up the alcohol bit. Few people saw the irony in that Jackson struggles with an addiction throughout the film while Affleck has publicly struggled in real life. And if they become lovers, they can work on it together. (Changing Lanes would have a double entendre, too.)
**