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Starring Jason Biggs, Natasha Lyonne, Eugene Levy, Chris Klein, Mena Suvari, Thomas Ian Nicholas,
Tara Reid, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Shannon Elizabeth, Chris Owen, Sean William Scott, Alyson Hannigan.
Directed by Paul Weitz.
Jim (Biggs) is in his senior year at high school, and is still a virgin. So are his friends Lacrosse star Chris (Klein), misfit Finch (Thomas) and best friend Kevin (Nicholas). At least Kevin has a girlfriend Vicky (Reid). But she wants to wait for the perfect time to have sex. And that time never seems to arrive. The boys make a pact that they will have sex before they graduate - in three weeks. Soon comes Jim's lucky day - a gorgeous foreign exchange student Nadia (Elizabeth) asks him for some personal tutoring. Jim broadcasts her getting changed in his room over the internet, and then has his chance to make it with her, but prematurely finishes without her, shall we say. Kevin seeks the advice of the wiser and more experienced Jessica (Lyonne) on how best to woo Vicky, but it doesn't seem to help. Meanwhile, Chris (Klein) has joined the jazz singing club to pursue one of the fine looking singers Heather (Suvari). Their relationship starts off well, but it's derailed by the antics of the spoiled rich kid Steve Stifler (Scott). Things are not looking up for the boys. They have one last chance to fulfill their pact - the prom. Stifler has invited the whole graduating class up to his parent's place. Will any of the boys get lucky by graduation? Admittedly, the preceding scenario does not sound very promising for anything actually funny. I was a bit worried after hearing the advance promotion for the film, where the two young writers claiming the 70's raunchfest Porky's as their inspiration. One of the notorious Canadian tax-write-off movies made for accountants to invest in, Porky's is still the highest grossing Canadian movie of all time, and spawned a rash of cheesy coming-of-age films around that time. It is also one of the lamest pieces of crap I have ever seen - aggressively unfunny, exceptionally moronic and mean-spirited in a bad way. It makes Pauly Shore films look good. OK, it's not that bad. Having grown up in the late 70's, this along with disco and polyester was another reason to be ashamed. Thank goodness American Pie is a far better movie. Well, it had to be. It starts off with the tube sock bit, and quickly moves into the novel use of the apple pie, but their prominent use in the trailer takes away from their humour. Grossout humour needs the element of surprise because in many cases, the joke isn't that funny after a while. But unlike the supremely over-rated There's Something About Mary, the film gets better as it progresses, with a few not totally unexpected twists and turns along the way. The biggest surprise of the movie is how tame it really is. Sure there's the tube sock, pie, plenty of condoms, activities with skin mags and everyone talking about sex, but the "valuable lessons" we learn from the film are 1. sex is better in a committed, loving relationship 2. sex is empty without love 3. don't say "I love you" unless you mean it 4. girls have feelings, and one should not just use them for sex 5. boys who fib about having sex or insensitively use girls will get theirs in the end. The only real edge is hinted at in the Natasha Lyonne character, where she displays some cynicism over boys and their preoccupation with sex. Her best line is her telling a guy "Tell her you love her. It worked on me." Actually, the film does show a surprising amount of sensitivity. I apologize for using the phrase character development with this film, but there actually is some. The Chris and Heather love story is quite touching, where jock Chris begins to change his priorities and grows to love Heather, and goody-two-shoes Heather begins to appreciate his boyish but decent side. OK, that does sound a bit corny, but trust me, it works very well on screen. The script is solid, containing dialogue that usually sounds like things real teenagers might say. But I can't remember kids in my day constantly obsessed with sex. Sure, it did cross our minds now and again, but we were far too embarrassed to be talking about it, and reliving our horror stories with one another. Have things changed that much? The cast is quite good. Biggs is solid, showing a bit of depth in the socially inept Jim. Lyonne stands out as she did in The Slums Of Beverly Hills, as the experienced but personable girl who people seek for advice on romance, but she is underused in the film. Levy is quite funny in his limited time, but is a bit of a caricature as Jim's dad who tries to aid his growing up by introducing him to the artistic qualities of Hustler and Shaved. Klein, following his good work in Election, is again a sweet-natured jock, but this time a little less naive about things going on around him. Scott's callous and shallow Stifler is one of the funniest characters, a spoiled brat who couldn't care less what others want or whose feelings he hurts. Buffy's TV sidekick Hannigan is quite funny as the motormouth band geek who just can't stop talking about band camp, delivering the film's single most funny line at the end of the film. You'll know what it is when you hear it. Teen's are bound to enjoy American Pie for both the humour and sweet-natured romance. If you're an adult, you may not enjoy the juvenile nature of the story - it is, after all, aimed at teenagers. And if you liked Porky's, you'll think this is Shakespeare.  
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