User reviews

I have to say that the most fun I had at the movies this summer was when I saw American Pie, the funniest picture I've seen since last summer's There's Something About Mary. This movie has taken the classic teenage boy film (Porky's, Revenge of the Nerds) and spruced it up for the 90's. It is hilarious from start to finish. If you like physical comedy, gross out comedy, sexual comedy, American Pie has it all. A great ensemble cast of likeable young actors makes this a joy to watch.

I think this year's breakout star has to be Chris Klein. He was phenomenal in Election and he is even better here as a jock who tries to soften his image to score before prom. I have a feeling Klein is going to be Hollywood's next big thing and I hope he has a chance to flex his acting muscles in some different movies (I can definitely see this guy in an action film).

Also very good is Jason Biggs who plays the sympathetic Jim character, the guy who is least likely to lose his virginity. His antics are very funny to follow and he gets the lion share of the laughs. Finally a huge ovation for Eugene Levy, who gets major laughs as the Jim's dad.

I will say this for American Pie, it's not full out of completely gross out humor like Van Wilder (2002). It's got a couple of scenes based on crude humor, but I was glad to see that for the most part, the movie steered clear of over the top disgusting humor. The characters are good hearted boys that think they just want sex, and for a couple of the characters that turns out to be true, but for a couple other of them, it turns out that just "getting laid" isn't the most important thing. I liked that the characters actually ended up to have a deeper want and that they actually end up having better connections with girls that yes may involve sex, but that's not all that it's based upon. Now this movie isn't all love and good hearted stuff, it's got plenty and I do mean plenty of raunchy/dirty humor. Humor that involves male and female masturbation in different ways, premature ejaculation, and very descriptive talk of all kinds of sexual activities. Just FYI in case any of that offends you. There is some truly funny material in the film, I laughed at several scenes in the movie. I didn't think it was laugh out loud hilarious, but some parts were funny. The parts I wasn't laughing at, I was feeling for the characters. I loved the acting from all the cast members. Tara Reid was really good as Vicky. Jason Biggs was a perfect choice for Jim. Thomas Nicholas is great as Kevin. Chris Klein is very good as Oz. And the rest of the cast is good too, but Kevin, Vicky, Oz, and Jim are the biggest characters here. I loved how Oz and Kevin were so adorable and were actually good hearted guys. I really like American Pie because not only is it funny but it's also good hearted and filled with good characters. 8/10.

The director and the writer, Paul Weitz and Adam Herz respectively, will do anything for a laugh -- that's good, as it turns out, because this movie has a great many laughs in it. There's not much of that restricting, suffocating "logic" stuff around, but "American Pie" is immensely enjoyable. I mean, almost none of the things that happen in this film would ever, ever come to pass in real life, but it doesn't matter.

For starters, the characters aren't all one-dimensional. Thankfully, they're two-dimensional, so right away it has an edge on 60-70% of all the movies ever made.

Moreover, it's heart is in the right place. Most high school movies these days are all about cruelty and malice, especially towards (and among) the women. Not the case here. This is the first conventional high school movie I've ever seen that made me smile so much (I say conventional because "Rushmore" still trumps every one of them).

Furthermore, it's very funny. I wouldn't dare give away any of the really great gags (we've all seen the trailer -- that's not the one I mean), but I'll say this: Weitz and Herz are extraordinarily skilled in audience manipulation, which is to say that they know how and when to spring unexpected surprises upon us. They also know how to use foul language for punch, rather than punctuation.

The soundtrack is another positive. It's all about joy and high energy -- even music from Third Eye Blind and Barenaked Ladies that suffers from radio overplay fits the mood appropriately.

I had the good fortune to see a sneak preview of this film in England, a couple of weeks before release - and I was very impressed indeed. Hurrah - a comedy that is laugh-out-loud funny, enough to make you cringe at the embarrassing bits (of which there are many), and smile at the sentiment, which isn't corny in the slightest. This coming-of-age tale of four boys who make a pact to become men by losing their virginity by prom night is the perfect movie to go the cinema with your buddies to see, but probably not with your family. Having said that, I saw a family (son, mother, father and grandmother) coming out of the cinema, and they had a great time. The grandmother couldn't stop laughing, and saying how true it all was. Which is interesting, if a little embarrassing.

Part of the success of this movie is due to the fact that we've all had to contemplate how we feel about sex, and losing your virginity is something which (no matter how fraught with peril it is) bonds us all because it is a very frightening experience. It's also a topic which has so much comic potential, and I'm glad that cast and crew don't throw any of the opportunities away. Here's the thing: if you're going to make a movie that is probably going to offend a few people no matter what you do, and is a very near-the-knuckle affair, why stop at only half-gags? Go the whole hog, push the boat out, thrust it in their faces. And that's what "American Pie" does.

The performances are all great, if a little clichéd (are all you Americans really either:

a) jocks

b) geeks

c) sweet, loveable square-jawed heroes/long haired, intelligent heroines? ...gosh, I hope so, that would be so funny for us Brits to watch). There is yet another high school prom (jealousy sets in once more - see "Never Been Kissed"), which causes much consternation for all concerned. There are marvellous scenes between concerned father and embarrassed child, quite the highlight of the movie. I'll be interested to see how the careers of all of the stars fare after this film. I wish them all well, but I find it hard to see them all thriving outside a high-school environment (which is good, because it indicates that they all play their roles with a great deal of endearing believability).

It'll certainly give you something to talk about with your mates, and it'll make you think about things, too. It'll make you check what's in your beer, it'll make you think about apple pie, and it'll make you think more about your relationships. All of which is good stuff. The soundtrack is good (although doesn't contain any Don McLean), the lighting is also very good in places, the direction adequate, the editing fine, the . But at the end of the day, this is the kid's movie, and they make an excellent job of an excellent script and situation, so fair play to them. This movie deserves to succeed, and I hope it receives a good welcome from us Brits, who should enjoy it a lot. (Incidentally, this film got a fifteen rating, which I think is about right for it - eighteen would be too prohibitive (after all, isn't this film aimed at people aged fifteen?)). Take a piece of advice, though - if you are embarrassed easily, don't watch it with members of your family. But do watch it.

"So high school boys everywhere only think about sex, huh?" my Japanese wife turned to me and said about 20 minutes into "American Pie." She looked at me expectantly, as if she wanted to hear me say I was somehow different, above such base pursuits. I could tell she was mildly disappointed when I replied, "Yeah, pretty much." Eighteen-year-old boys' raging hormones is a truly universal theme.

There have been four American Pie films to date, not counting the straight-to-video releases. The film notably struck a chord with teens when it was released in 1999. I remember sitting in art class and overhearing a popular and attractive senior girl condescending to an awkward and geeky freshman boy, "You haven't seen 'American Pie'? The great American sex comedy?" I still cringe when I remember that.

If you haven't seen it, it is basically about four senior boys who make a pact to lose their virginity before they graduate high school. They shrewdly determine prom is their last chance to get laid, and devote all their energy to getting a woman in bed at the after-prom party, to be held at the lake house of the cocky lacrosse player, Steve Stifler. The boys, particularly Jim, have a series of embarrassing mishaps along the way, one famously involving a warm apple pie.

"American Pie" set a new bar for teen comedies. Every teen comedy since has tried, and failed, to top the scene where Stifler unwittingly drinks a beer with a load of semen in it.

Though "American Pie" is famous for its numerous gross-outs, the movie is good, and not just gross, because we come to identify with the characters, and the humor rises naturally from the situations. The scene where Stifler slips laxatives into Finch's mochaccino, causing him to make a desperate dash for the nearest toilet, is funny not because fart sounds are humorous, but because the film already established Finch's aversion for public restrooms.

The Stifler character was especially believable. When Heather (Mena Suvari) asks out Oz (Chris Klein) in front of the lacrosse team, Stifler proceeds to make lewd gestures. Heather misinterprets this as Stifler making fun of her, when Stifler was really just trying to embarrass Oz. When I first saw the film at the age of 16, I thought, That's pretty much how high school boys act.

The acting is serviceable. Eugene Levy, who plays Jim's dad, and Seann William Scott, who plays Stifler, are totally convincing in their roles. (Toward the end of the film, watch Stifler in the background check his beer before he takes a sip.) Others, however, give flat performances, especially in dramatic scenes. However, since these scenes take back seat to the comedy, and few of the jokes fall flat from the acting, the mediocre performances don't hurt the overall effectiveness of the film.

Another criticism I have of the film is one that pretty much applies to all Hollywood films, and that is that the kids are too rich. You can usually tell who the poor kid is in a Hollywood movie because he's the one who's not driving a late-model car. His family will still live in a two-storey house. Every student in "American Pie" (except for Oz, the only one shown to have a job), lives like the richest kid at my high school.

Overall, "American Pie" is an enjoyable comedy that will continue to be the standard against which all teen comedies will be judged. I recommend the unrated version. While scenes in most unrated or extended editions were cut from the theatrical releases for good reasons (i.e., they were tedious), the theatrical version of "American Pie" was really a sanitized version of the better, unrated version.

I laughed so hard I spit out half the bucket-o-pop I was drinking, and finally had to stop sipping from its fine nectar, because so many times I was hooting and bending over in joy.

There are some slower moments to let you catch your breath and allow for moments of sincerity, but only for a minute. The scenes in the previews (the ones you think will ruin the movie for you) are expounded on ten-fold, so there are plenty of surprises.

During the movie I kept saying, "This is me and my friends when we were in high school!" They were almost the same conversations about life, sex and girls; just not as frequently, but it's only a two-hour film. Any guy will appreciate American Pie full tilt, and girls will realize just what hoops guys jump through in order to get their attention, let alone in their pants.

What added to American Pie is that I liked every character, because the filmmakers didn't feel the urge to give us prototypical teen characters. Their personalities are distinctive, and their situations are all different, which leads to a hilarious finale where we see just how their pact plays out on prom night.

As I mentioned before, there are genuine moments on the screen where the guys and gals have revelations of sincerity. It adds a needed depth to a film like this, where it's not just raw, raunchy comedy, but important to the lives of the characters who know more than sex is at stake. Which is another reason to like Pie, there are several slices, and sexual conquest is only one of them.

It's the summer of 1999, I'm 13 and somehow myself and about eight friends get into our local two screen cinema one afternoon to see American Pie. 95 minutes and a lot of thrown popcorn later and we leave having seen the funniest film we think we'll ever see. Now it's 2012, I'm 26, I have a beard and I've gone back to watch the film that my 13 year old self fell in love with before watching the forth instalment of the franchise next month.

Towards the end of the senior year at High School four friends; jock Oz (Chris Klein), awkward geek Jim (Jason Biggs), quirky Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and regular guy Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) are struggling to lose their virginity before they each embark for college. Having seen classmates like loud mouth Stifler (Seann William Scott) have success on this front and after one party believing that even the dorkiest guy in the class Chuck 'Shermanator' Sherman (Chris Owen) has lost his virginity, the four friends make a pact that they will help each other to get laid by Prom Night.

When I first watched this in 1999 the idea of hearing teenagers talk about and engage in sex during a movie was still novel and outrageous to me. Some of the jokes and more graphic or gross scenes were hilarious and like nothing I'd ever seen before. Now, 13 years later after the likes of The Hangover which have pushed the crude and discussing acts even further, the film feels a bit tame. It's still pretty gross to see Stifler drink from that cup or for Jim to enjoy that pie but sensitivities and audiences have changed a lot in the last decade or so. Much of the humour I liked 13 years ago now feels immature and I suppose this is because it isn't fresh and also because I've grown up. The humour in The Hangover didn't appeal to me either and the trailer for Project X put me off completely. I wonder how funny someone born in 1999 would find this film now. I expect they would find it funnier that I. One character who still remains funny to me is Jim's Dad (Eugene Levy). His interactions with his son about sex are cringe worthy and embarrassing even today. He stole the film and the entire franchise.

One thing that struck me this time round was how poor some of the acting was. Tara Reid is dreadful and Chris Klein even worse. Shannon Elizabeth's accent is ridiculous and the country she is supposed to be from didn't even exist in 1999! Another thing I noticed this time was how sweaty the whole cast looked. I'd never noticed it before but it looked like each actor had gone for a run immediately before reading their lines. I didn't particularly like the sentimentality towards the end and everything ended far too neatly but at least it wasn't a nasty or mean movie. I also really liked the film's soundtrack both in 1999 and now.

Despite all its flaws I still have great affinity for this film. It reminded me of being in my teens, wearing the same overly baggy clothes and having the same overly gelled hair. The film has stayed with me all these years and in a way I wish I hadn't revisited it. It's like that video game that you loved as a kid and you see in a shop for £2. You take it home, dig out and dust down your old console and then realise five minutes in that times have changed. Sure, it was great when you were a kid but you're not anymore. It's best to put it back in the box and remember the good times you had as a kid.

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American pie was a legendary movie for anybody who was mid to late teens in 1999. They literally hit the nail on the head about how guys of that age think and act, so theres a lot to relate to.

I havent really got anything bad to say about this film it's funny and really enjoyable and well worth a watch and probably the best one out of the four with the original cast.... well between this and number 2.

I'd rate it at 7.5/10 which I feel is about right. Its not an epic film for so many reasons but at the same time it has so many reasons why it is. If your the right age especially. If you've never watched this it's a must and if your watching again have fun and reminisce.

Movies like these just arent made anymore! Sums up all of the 90's. Great music, funny and good acting for a for this kind of movie! The sequels are really good too!

This movie is so funny every time I watch it I laugh the whole time the first time I watch it is when I was 16 I seen it 30 times Shannon eliabeth acting is good if you like teen comedy movies you will like this it came out in 1999 the year I was born in

Where do you start... from flutes to pies, this pioneer teen movie has it all. I'm pretty sure this was the first DVD I ever saw, back in 2000. I do remember owing $20 in late fees to blockbuster video for keeping it so long after it was due back. It was worth it! This has classic written all over it, I think it's safe to say that anyone that was involved with this movie has a great career now because of it. American pie has an absolute all star cast led by the Great Jason biggs Anyone who enjoys comedy, teen comedy must see this movie! honestly you need to watch more movies if you haven't sen this one!!!

10/10

If you're 10 or simian, you might like this movie. For anyone with 1/2 a developed brain, it's not worth the time and money to sit through the vulgarities.

American Pie has all the ingredients of a good movie. First, the plot deals with young people in search of their first sexual experience. What could be more basic to the human condition? Second, although obviously fiction, the film has a feeling of reality capturing the awkwardness and anxiety of young people at this point in their lives. Third, it is well written and not always predictable as each young man employs his own strategy, and of course, in the real world things do not always go as planned. Fourth, the cast consists of very talented young actors playing characters which may remind the audience of people they may have known. Fifth, the film has its poignant moments. The final ingredient is this movie is hilarious. The film has one liners, sight gags, and situations that very funny. The audience, which ranged from teenagers to middle age, laughed almost constantly and out loud. CAUTION: This film is rated "R" for sexual situations and the use of alcohol by young people. If you are easily offended or sexual humor makes you uncomfortable, stay away. However, if you are not in the aforementioned, you may enjoy it. Three stars!!!

Even if the ending somewhat contradicts the films message, I still think the cast makes the best of the cutting corners contingencies.

During my teenage years I came into contact with this "cult" series only when classmates talked about it or when I saw random scenes on the TV. With my teenage years gone, I decided to give this movie its proper chance. I expected it to be of low-quality, lame and stupid. Apparently, I was wrong.

Sure, it's just simple teenage comedy, but I had some good laughs, development of characters works without problems and because it's relatively short, I wasn't bored too much. Perfect movie for its target audience, trip back into the past for adult audiences.

This movie is lots of fun. It has some offensive jokes in it... VERY OFFENSIVE, but it makes up for it with some romantic scenes as well.

The movie is wild and over top with lots of original moments. The best thing about this movie that it's repecting the characters and lets them develop to good and decent people.

A very nice feel-good movie. Better watch it with friends.

Many films benefit from repeated viewings but I think the opposite can be true of comedies, as second time around you know what's going to happen therefore it loses it's effect. First time I watched American Pie it had me in stitches, second time it amused me. So my 7/10 is based on that. It is a great & funny film about a much of guys desperate to lose their virginity but naturally with mixed & hilarious results. Couple of standout scenes here, Shannon E masturbating on web cam & one of the guys having sex with an American pie, worth seeing for those alone. Some strong language but the nudity is pretty low, they did ramp it up in the sequels, which are all worth checking out.

This is how high school really is. Great interruption of how life as an soon to be adult is.

American Pie is a hilarious comedy starring Eugene Levy, Seann-William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, and more. The movie follows the lives of a few teenage boys who all make a pact to lose their virginity by prom night of their senior year in High School. If you like a good teen comedy, this is definitely something that needs to be watched. I enjoyed it, however I thought that was pretty average, which is why I rated it a 7/10. It's not an "awesome" movie, but I thought that it was humorous and enjoyable!

I don't often leave reviews but I had to comment how this film is clearly lost on some people. I was 18 when this film came out. Obviously those leaving bad reviews are a lot younger and don't realise the contemporary movie landscape.

The American Pie formula has been used a lot since its release but in its time, it was fairly original. It has humour, some of it cringeworthy toilet/sex humour granted, but it still makes me laugh out loud and turn away in disgust.

Then there are the poignant moments, the coming-of-age stuff that makes watching it worthwhile. The superficial pact the friends make is superseded by the various realisations each of them has by the end of the film.

When rating a film I always ask myself: does it present itself the best way it can? do the actors do their jobs well? does it tell the story? does it evoke emotion or thought? And the answer to all of these is a resounding yes. Ergo, it deserves a high rating.

Plus, it coined the term "MILF" and many of these unknown actors went on to have fairly successful careers afterwards. That is testament to this film's quality.

Many memorable characters cast.

Right amount of crude jokes.

Good momentum.

A Classic rewatch.

Silly teen/adult comedy.

As if teens who choose abstinence don't need to be ostracized any further, there's this lovely sack of crap to alienate them even further. I had the privilege of seeing the unrated version. I didn't find the movie's content in and of itself offensive, it's just that it has a terrible message ("you must lose your virginity as soon as possible, even if you're a teenager") and isn't even that funny. Guy has violent diarrhea after so-called "friend" slips him some laxative. Guy drinks beer with semen in it. Guy prematurely ejaculates when he's about to have sex with his dream girl. People use various objects for sexual gratification. Oh, stop, or I'll just DIE laughing!

God help the people who produced this assualt upon the reputation of the art of film, because He obviously did not bless those poor souls with good judgment. No wonder Hollywood is thought of as a great cesspool of horror and depravity--because it IS a great cesspool of horror and depravity!

I can't wait to see American Pie 3: They All Get Genital Warts. (How hard will it be for them to get laid when their nether regions look like relief maps of the Andes?)

If you are a person easily offended by a film dedicated primarily to the glory of teen sex, you may well view "American Pie" as yet another in a long line of cinematic harbingers of the collapse of western civilization. If, however, you remember adolescence as essentially a period of unending coitus interruptus, you may well find yourself engrossed by this amusing, though admittedly crude, series of sexual and scatalogical gags woven around a plot involving the desperate attempts of a quartet of last semester seniors to lose their virginity on the fast approaching sexual armageddon known as "prom night."

"American Pie" gleans most of its comic energy from its outrageous examination of the crazy and innovative extremes desperately horny teens will go to in order to experience the thrill of sex in lieu of the real thing. An attractive, game cast helps to mitigate the crudity of many of their actions and the filmmakers' lighthearted tone encompasses the characters in such a cloak of affection that the audience identifies with, rather than condemns, their antics.

As meager compensation for the moralists among us, the film does heavily promote the use of condoms and comes up with even more creative prophylactics for those times when a partner is not available.

"American Pie" is certainly not for every taste and there are those who would argue that it serves a less than salutary purpose as a guide for already sex-obsessed teenagers. Be that as it may, the film provides a fair number of hearty chuckles for those of us who can find humor in a group of backward youngsters experiencing the frustration and desperation we have all, at one time, experienced.

I do have one troubling question though: why do none of these characters, whenever they are involved in a potentially compromising position, ever lock a door? The answer, I suppose, is obvious for, if they did, at least half the film's biggest laughs would become impossible to achieve. For this film, at least, such a suspension of disbelief may be a prerequisite.

Be forewarned but enjoy!