American Pie

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!

"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.

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!!!

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.

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.