Van Wilder: Freshman Year

Van Wilder: Freshman Year, also known as National Lampoon's Van Wilder: Freshman Year, is an American comedy about a high school graduate who turns a military-style college upside down and makes it his own. Van Wilder: Freshman Year is the third film in the series of National Lampoon films and is a prequel to the original. The movie starts with the high school graduation of Van Wilder, played by Jonathan Bennett. After he makes a trip to Amsterdam on his own, Van heads off Coolidge College, the same place of higher learning that his father went. Though his father mentions the party atmosphere the college had when he was a student, Van is shocked to see Coolidge's transformation as a military-based school headed by Dean Reardon, played by Kurt Fuller. Because Reardon hates Van's father, he is determined to make the younger Wilder's life as uncomfortable as he possibly can. However, Van is determined to make his first year at Coolidge memorable. Breaking down a dorm wall to make a two-bedroom suite for him and his roommate Farley (Nestor Aaron Absera), Van holds a party with all the fun things Reardon won't allow. When no one attends except some very religious girls, Van decides to pull a prank on them at their church. This gets Reardon's attention, giving him impetus to have ROTC student Dirk break Van until he decides to leave Coolidge. However, instead of cracking, Van falls for Dirk's beautiful girlfriend Kaitlin (Kristin Cavallari). The climax of the film comes when Reardon challenges Van and his friends to a military game where the winner claims control of Coolidge College. Van Wilder: Freshman Year was produced by Robert L. Levy and directed by Harvey Glazer. Distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment, the film was released direct to DVD in July of 2009.