Niente regole: siamo al college

...But it's still pulled off pretty well. What you have to remember is that this movie wasn't created with hopes that it would win an Oscar.

Sure, it doesn't have what the original title had, but i'm sure fans of Van Wilder will find Freshman Year a movie worthy of a few laughs.

Jonathan Bennett, who plays Van, plays the character brilliantly and as close to Ryan Reynolds as you can possibly get.

The ending leaves room for a forth, so I, along with many other fans i'm sure, are hoping for another.

I can almost certainly say that the majority if not all critics will say only bad things about this movie. But i can certainly say they don't and probably wont ever get the point of movies like this. It's not just another "stoner movie" it's a movie for people who appreciate a laugh.

I loved Ryan Reynold's Van Wilder and I also liked Van Wilder 2: Rise Of Taj as Kal Penn is one of the funniest actors out there. My friend gave this to me to watch as he found it to be very funny and he knew that I liked the first two movies. But Van Wilder 3 is just a cheap spin-off of the franchise to make more money by using the name of Van Wilder. Standing on its own, this wouldn't even have made as much money as it did on the name of the franchise.

This film is a prequel of the first movie and starts by introducing Van Wilder (Jonathan Bennett) when he is in freshman year at Coolidge College. The college is run under the strict Dean Charles Reardon (Kurt Fuller) who is also a military guy. There is not much fun in the college, no parties, no kissing on campus and Van Wilder wants to liberate his college from sexual oppression and party dysfunction. He also meets a girl, Kaitlin Hays (Kristin Cavallari) who is very sexy, beautiful and she wants to be in the military! But he is head over heels in love with her, though she already has a boyfriend who is the dean's pet and training for the military. So, begins Van Wilder's journey into the as yet, unknown (for him) Coolidge College.

The first thing that hits you right in the face is Jonathan Bennett's immense effort to look and act like Ryan Reynolds (one of my favourite actors). Because, lets face it, he probably isn't that good an actor by himself. Also Kristin Cavallari is insanely sexy and hot. Instead of every other girl being naked, she should have been naked. It would have worked just fine for me. Kurt Fuller is a guy I have seen in so many movies and TV shows, but I never knew the guy's name. He is a pretty good actor, just doesn't work for this movie. But, I loved his portrayal of Zacharaiah in 'Supernatural'. The plot is the same as in many other college movies of this kind and the first Van Wilder movie also. I have no problem with that, but in that movie Van Wilder is actually a compassionate human being, rather than an all out party and sex animal. Here we have his two friends, one a pot-head Jamaican and the other is a Chinese named, Yu Dumb Fok (Ha ha! so funny, not). There is also his dog, Collosus's origin story here! There were some pretty hilarious moments though; the dildos beneath the bench at church was awesome, the dog sucking the Dean was funny too. Other than that, this was just another excuse to get girls naked and a cheap rip-off the Van Wilder franchise.

4/10

This movie tries to follow the format of the original film. Thus, there are T&A galore, raunchy humor, bizarre characters, and wild parties. Bennett even kind of looks like Ryan Reynolds.

But generally, this flick doesn't do it as good as the original. Some of the jokes are kind of funny, but most are tepid or even complete knockoffs of old jokes I've heard before. While the original used eccentric characters and outlandish situations as springboards for humor, this one just goes deep into Bizzaro World (a college run by its ROTC director, who has posted "No Partying" and "No Kissing" signs, and can involuntarily enroll students in ROTC?).

Bennett decently mimicked Reynolds, but he didn't have the same charisma. Cavallari was charismatic, though, and I liked her as the love interest. Meredith Giangrande was downright sexy as forbidden- fruit Eve.

If you love being grossed out, this film ups the ante from the first one on the disgusting factor, although that's not particularly my thing. I do have to say, however, that the soft-porn aspects of this film are better than the original. There are scenes involving girls with vibrators, and a sex-ed class that illustrates intriguing positions (although with clothes on, but still), which may almost make you forget you're watching a comedy.

Van Wilder (Jonathan Bennett) is a freshman in Coolidge College. The place has all kinds of rules and run by the dictatorial Dean Charles Reardon (Kurt Fuller). Kaitlin Hayes (Kristin Cavallari) and boyfriend Dirk Arnold are ROTC recruits. Van takes an interest in Kaitlin. He breaks through his dorm wall and takes his neighbor Farley as a roommate. They throw a party but only Yu Dumb Fok shows up.

Van Wilder is Ryan Reynolds. It's that simple and nothing less. Jonathan has a bit of that roguish charm but he's no Ryan. Kristin Cavallari has limitations. She can't expand beyond her range. This movie has the prerequisite nudity and Jonathan's charms carry this for a little while. There may be a small chuckle or two but it gets boring by the midway point.

How do you judge a Hollywood movie? You could review a film from a classical perspective in terms of direction, acting, cinematography, story, and impact. Or, sometimes, you can judge whether a film achieves what it is wanted to be, even when that may be groveling to the lowest beast. On the latter score, I rate this movie as watchable.

I sat down with this film for something totally different from what I usually watch, and it was definitely different. Cheap sexual arousal, slap stick jokes, crudity, all in a revenge of the nerds schtick is the score du jour. But, within all that groveling to the lowest denominator, it delivers with an underlying, although trite, message. Bennett is interesting in his best Jim Carrey impersonation, and the rest of the cast plays along to his lead. Fuller is a delightful Dean Wormer. In fact, so much of the writing is pulled from Animal House, it sometimes feels like a cheap rip-off. But ultimately the movie finds its own feet and passes some time without feeling cheated.