Directed by :

Paul Weitz

Chris Weitz

Written by:

Adam Herz

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality, crude sexual dialogue, language and drinking, all involving teens

Everyone remembers the time and place they were when they see truly memorable films, and that's how American Pie is to me. When I first saw it in theaters, the one thing that came to mind, was that this film was Porky's for my generation. And that is actually a great way to look at this movie. And it created a long running line of films, that if you include the 4 “American Pie presents” films, comes in at 8 movies total. The is very respectable for a comedy series.

Jim, Oz, Finch and Kevin are four friends who make a pact that before they graduate they will all lose their virginity. The hard job now is how to reach that goal by prom night. Whilst Oz begins singing to grab attention and Kevin tries to persuade his girlfriend, Finch tries any easy route of spreading rumors and Jim fails miserably. Whether it is being caught on top of a pie or on the Internet, Jim always end up with his trusty sex advice from his father. Will they achieve their goal of getting laid by prom night? or will they learn something much different.

This plot is very typical, and very textbook, for a comedy of this nature. Like I said, it is Porky's, but for a new generation of viewers. And with films like this, the sex issue, is something all teens and viewers can identify with. Some guys out there might not like to admit it, but the types of conversations these characters have in these film...every single male out there as had them, or will have them....that's just a fact of life. But how do you make something like that work in the cinema...you take something that everyone goes through...and you exaggerate the fuck out of it. And this series does that better than any other I've seen in recent history.

American Pie, and many others, uses teen awkwardness, and fear of sex for the first time, as the brick and mortar for which this film stands on. It is crude, and vial...just like most teenage males are. They do whatever they can to gross out there friends, or humiliate others. And say whatever they want in order to talk themselves up to their buddies. And this movie really pushes the envelope quite a bit. If this film was shot and released a few years earlier...I can almost guarantee that there would have been massive cuts...if the film even was able to find the funding. Wow...how times can change. If you so this in theaters, and saw the Unrated cut...you saw what they did have to change...granted there wasn't much cut...but you get the point.

As the plot would suggest...yes the movie is about a group of friends just trying to get laid. And it plays into the stereotype that guys will stick their dicks into just about anything...including an apple pie. But there is an underlying message throughout the entirety of this film; and that is, that sex isn't the end all, be all, that teenagers make it out to being. And it's this tiny underlying message that makes this film even enjoyable to the adults that saw it. And gave it just a tiny bit more substance than just tits and ass, and masturbation jokes...and there is nothing wrong with any of that.

The biggest issue I see for viewers with American Pie...is in the humor. The fact that it can go from very sweet, and very charming in it's humor...and with the flick of a switch go to over the top, gag inducing with the gross out factor...will turn many viewers off. But this film has been out long enough, and enough sequels have been made...that you should know what you are getting into from the get go. Many reviewers say that this film...and the series itself, goes way to far...I say this...FUCK OFF. What exactly is too far? Jim cumming prematurely twice when trying to sleep with Nadia? Jim's dad walking in on him while he is fucking his moms homemade apple pie? Or when Steve Stifler drinks a glass of beer, that is filled with another mans cum? It's a movie...how do you place a gauge on what's too far? If you start setting a bar as to what you can't go beyond, then you are stuck watching the same old shit, movie after movie. I want to see films go farther...push the boundaries of good taste as far as they can go. That way, the next film...or the next aspiring filmmaker, has something they can go beyond. That is how this works people.

The one thing I don't think anyone can argue with, is the thing that really makes this movie work...is the characters and the actors that play them. Now, I'm going to be honest with you, and call some people out...Chris Klein, Shannon Elizabeth, Tara Reid, and Thomas Ian Nicholas...I can't stand them as actors/actresses. That me...I loathe and despise them...but I stand them in this movie because of the characters. The chemistry Jason Biggs and Eugene Levy have as father and son, is just short of perfect. And I can't see the role of the father played by anyone else...he is perfectly inappropriate at all the right times...and he is by far my favorite character in this entire series. And Jason Biggs to put himself in the embarrassing predicaments Jim finds himself in...that is genius. And many actors would not agree to go to the places Biggs is willing to go. But we will get into that more later in the series, as I write more reviews for them. And it's the ability for all of these actors to do to these dark, raunchy, and lewd places that makes this film the “classic” that it has become. And that is saying a lot. Because many film tried to replicate what this film did, and they fall so far short of the line, that they are just plain embarrassing films. So it is actually refreshing to see one get it right from time to time.

All in all, American Pie will stand in time (like Porky's) as a film that was willing to push the envelope, and change the face of comedy for generations to come. But like everything, when a bar is set...there is always room for improvement, and also vast amounts of room for failure. But like I said, we will dive more into that as the series progresses. So in closing...if you haven't seen this movie...what are you waiting for. WATCH THE FUCKING MOVIE. It is a great movie...and yes I've watched this movie with my family, so sit back with the wife and kiddies (if they are mature enough to handle it), and enjoy the hilarity that is American Pie.

Till Next Time Kiddies...

-RJ