DIRECTOR
Paul Weitz
SCREENWRITER
Adam Herz
PRODUCERS
Chris Moore
Craig Perry
Chris Weitz
Warren Zide
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Richard Crudo
MUSIC
David Lawrence
EDITOR
Priscilla Nedd-Friendly
CAST
Jason Biggs (Jim)
Shannon Elizabeth (Nadia)
Alyson Hannigan (Michelle)
Chris Klein (Oz)
Natasha Lyonne (Jessica)
Thomas Ian Nicholas (Kevin)
Tara Reid (Vicky)
Seann William Scott (Stifler)
Mena Suvari (Heather)
Eddie Kaye Thomas (Finch)
Eugene Levy (Jim's Dad)
Jennifer Coolidge (Stifler's Mom)
Chris Owen (Sherman)
MPAA rating: R
Running
time: 96m
U.S. release: July 9, 1999
Video availability: VHS - DVD
Other Weitz
Bros. films
reviewed on this website:
- About
a Boy
|
In
these strange times, a movie like American Pie has a reassuring
message: There are still teenage boys trying to get into teenage
girls' pants, and there are still teenage girls trying to keep
teenage boys out of said pants. T'was ever thus, and ever thus
will be. Part of growing up, unfortunately, is forgetting what
it's like to be a mass of churning hormones; getting older, we
get pious and judgmental about horny teens. Somehow, each generation,
once they pass age 25 or so, thinks they were better,
smarter teenagers than the current generation of teenagers. T'was
ever thus, yada yada. So get ready for the offended reactions
to American Pie, which does not pretend that teenagers
do not have libidos or drink or look at dirty pictures. They
do. We did, too. T'was ever etc. etc.
American Pie isn't anything great or original; it has
been constructed to be to the '90s what Animal House was
to the '70s and Porky's was to the '80s (and judging from
early audience responses, it may well be the watercooler There's Something
About Mary of this summer). But it has likable characters
and infectiously funny situations, and that's about all a comedy
like this needs. The movie, written by rookie scenarist Adam
Herz and directed by newcomer Paul Weitz (his brother Chris Weitz
produced), makes scrappy comedy out of what feels like a tragedy
at the time: the teenage male's urgent need, and overwhelming
inability, to lose his virginity. Is it gross? Occasionally,
but no more so than the PG-13-rated Austin
Powers 2. In fact, American Pie was threatened
with an NC-17; it must be that unwittingly drinking shit is okay,
but unwittingly drinking semen is verboten.
The plot follows four high-school seniors -- Jim (Jason Biggs),
Oz (Chris Klein), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), and Finch (Eddie
Kaye Thomas) -- as they make a pact to get laid before they graduate.
They set their calendars to prom night, which comes in a mere
three weeks. The klutzy but endearing Jim can't say two words
to a girl without disaster; his mellow and helpful dad (Eugene
Levy in a great performance that gets big laughs while still
allowing the father to retain his dignity) sits him down for
frequent serious talks about sex, using visual aids involving
magazines with names like Shaved. Kevin, an insecure but
basically good-hearted kid, gets the jitters when his girlfriend
Vicky (Tara Reid) is too quick to say those terrifying three
words and expects him to return them; he eventually seeks outside
assistance in giving Vicky "the big O," in lieu of
saying he loves her, I guess. Oz, a lacrosse jock, discovers
a good way to get some action: join the choir and hook up with
comely singer Heather (Mena Suvari). Finch, a sad-eyed non-entity,
figures out a way to create a stud mystique about himself even
though he still feels compelled to run home from school to take
a dump (don't ask).
Everything leads to a party, as teen movies often do, and since
this is a mainstream comedy, it isn't spoiling anything to say
that the four guys pretty much achieve their goals -- though
how exactly they achieve them, and whom with, is part of the
fun of the movie. American Pie is raunchy but essentially
decent at heart. The four heroes aren't predators, just desperate
kids caught in the teen obsession with fitting in. Past a certain
point, they can't even remember why they ever wanted to have
sex in the first place. And the movie doesn't ignore the girls,
either. Two of the best characters are sort of outside observers:
Jessica (Natasha Lyonne from Slums of Beverly Hills, looking
more than ever like Elisabeth Shue's kid sister), who's seen
it all and gives no-nonsense advice to boys and girls alike;
and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer),
whose endless prattle about her G-rated adventures at band camp
sets us up for one of the movie's biggest belly-laughs. (It's
a shame the TV ads somewhat spoil it.) As for the less admirable
horndogs -- the insensitive jock Stifler (Seann William Scott),
the boastful Sherman (Chris Owen) -- the film's worst humiliations
are reserved for them.
The star, if there is one here, is Jason Biggs, whose Jim gets
acquainted with the eponymous pastry (an already legendary scene)
and has his exertions with a knockout foreign-exchange student
broadcast over the Internet to half the kids in school. Jim is
the vulnerable, yearning guy you always see in these movies:
desperate and resourceful enough to allow male viewers to identify
with him, lovably klutzy and harmless enough to allow women to
enjoy his misadventures as well. American Pie has a winning
formula, and it may be in a good position to swoop in and take
the gold this summer. So far this season, we've had a lot of
event movies -- comedies or blockbusters that own our consciousness
for a couple of weeks and then disappear (as funny as Austin
Powers 2 was, do you still hear anyone raving about Mini-Me?
That's how fast the pop-culture turnover is now). American
Pie may have the unbeatable combo of word-of-mouth outrageousness
and redeeming heart; it also happens to be a genuinely good and
enjoyable film, which shouldn't be taken for granted this summer. |
