National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj is a 2006 sequel to the 2002 comedy National Lampoon's Van Wilder starring Kal Penn. Despite the film's title, lead actor Ryan Reynolds does not return in his role as Van Wilder.
Plot
Taj Badalandabad (Kal Penn), the personal assistant to the legendary Van Wilder, has just graduated Coolidge College and is now on his way to England's Camford University. Taj plans to follow in the footsteps of his father- not only by obtaining a degree, but also to become a member of an exclusive campus Fraternal Guild, the Fox and Hounds, where Taj hopes he will become the next generation of Badalandabads to be deservedly nicknamed the "Sultan of Sheets."
However, when Taj arrives at Camford, he is told by Pip Everett, the Earl of Grey (Daniel Percival), the stuffy head of the Fox and Hounds, that there had been a mistake and he's actually not been accepted into the Fraternal Guild.
Devastated, Taj, with his faithful bulldog Ballzac in tow, instead takes the only housing opening available on campus and becomes the "Head of House" for a group of student misfits - Sadie (Holly Davidson), a gorgeous Cockney girl with a mouth like a gutter, Seamus, an English-hating Irishman, Gethin, the ultimate nerd, and Simon, a goofy-looking kid who never talks.
Stuck with a band of misfits, Taj considers what Van Wilder would do in the same dismal situation, and in classic "Van" fashion he decides to take on the challenge and turn the house around. At the campus Society Inaugural Ball, Taj announces to the uptight crowd that he and his new mates are starting their own exclusive society - the Cock and Bulls. In addition, the Cock and Bulls declare that are going to compete in the venerable Hastings Cup - an ongoing series of campus academic events and athletic competitions.
Also, as part of his duties, Taj finds out that he will be a history teacher to his new mates and that his teaching supervisor will be Charlotte Higginson (Lauren Cohan), an English beauty, who just happens to be dating Pip Everett. Taj is instantly smitten with Charlotte. Charlotte instantly is not smitten in return.
Taj and Charlotte clash over Taj's less conventional traditional teaching methods until Charlotte points out that his new mates are in danger of flunking out of school because their grades are so low. Taj takes Charlotte's challenge to heart and starts turning the mates around - their grades as well as their self-esteem.
Meanwhile, much to the chagrin of Pip Everett, not only are the Cock and Bulls catching up to the Fox and Hounds in the Hastings Cup, but Taj and Charlotte are spending a lot of time together.
Pip sets out to get rid of Taj by attempting to humiliate him at the Royal Literary Ball and then sabotaging Ballzac at the Camford Dog Show, but both cases backfire and Pip ends up the one embarrassed. Much to Pip's horror, Taj and Charlotte are clearly falling in love and the Cock and Bulls are moving into a close second behind the Fox and Hounds.
Pip decides to set up Taj and the Cock and Bulls by planting stolen test exams in their house. The plan works temporarily, and the mates are about to get expelled until Taj steps up and takes the blame for the theft - on the condition that his friends are allowed to stay in school. The school Provost agrees to the terms, and Taj has to leave Camford. Heart-broken, Charlotte tells Taj she never wants to see him again.
The mates are now left to compete in the final event of the Hastings Cup without their fearless leader. But when Charlotte finds evidence that proves Taj's innocence, she and Taj rush to the Hastings Cup, just in time for Taj to compete against Pip in the final event - fencing.
A humiliated and furious Pip makes sure that the fencing match degenerates into an all out sword fight, but in the end, Taj defeats Pip and the mates win the Hastings Cup. Pip gets expelled for planting the exams and Taj and Charlotte get to live happily ever after.
Cast
Production
The Rise of Taj was filmed at Winchester College during the school summer half term.
Marketing
In November 2006, Kal Penn and musicians Art Alexakis of Everclear and Jonny Dubrowsky of Jonny Lives! toured college campuses, radio and television stations across the country promoting the film. A monthlong 12-date Van Wilder Rock Tour headlined by Everclear and Jonny Lives!, started in January 2007 and ran through the end of February. The tour promoted the film and its soundtrack.[2]
Reception
The film was not a hit with either critics or audiences. It has a "rotten" 8% rating at Rotten Tomatoes and it earned just $2.3 million in its opening US weekend. Despite the sequel's poor reception and mediocre earnings, a third Van Wilder film, National Lampoon's Van Wilder: Freshman Year, was shot in 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. It was released straight to DVD on June 2, 2009[3]
References
External links
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National Lampoon's Van Wilder series |
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