American Pie (1999)

American Pie–along with There’s Something About Mary–raised the bar for the modern comedy genre. And by “raising the bar,” I mean taking gross-out humor to the next level. From that point forward, it wasn’t enough to just craft intelligent jokes and combine them with expert comic timing. No, you also needed some sperm in there to get the desired effect. Fortunately for fans of this type of humor, American Pie mixes bodily fluids with genuinely sweet characters to create a concoction which goes down smoother than you might think.

The film’s four main characters are all male, all high school senior, and all virgins: Chris “Oz“ Ostreicher (Chris Klein), the macho Lacrosse player; Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), the only one of the group who has a steady girlfriend (although she’s hesitant to go all the way); Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), the sophisticate who refuses to use the restrooms at his school; and Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs), the sexually confused lead with a hilariously helpful father (played to the hilt by Eugene Levy). The rest of the cast is rounded out with Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), a sexy foreign exchange student; Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), a cute-as-a-button band geek; Vicky (Tara Reid), a girlfriend who wants her first time to be perfect; and a complete jerk named Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott).

Our four heroes desperately want to lose their virginity before graduation, so they make a pact to provide aid and comfort to one another. The entirety of American Pie follows this plotline, as each young man concocts various schemes to get a girl into the sack. Jim singles out the vivacious foreign exchange student, Kevin continues to pursue sex with his girlfriend, Oz transfers to choir and pretends to be sensitive, and Finch starts a rumor that he’s got a massive penis. As you might imagine, many of these efforts fail miserably, providing much of the film’s humor.

The biggest laughs in American Pie, however, come from what is commonly referred to as “gross-out humor.” Someone ejaculates into a cup of beer, only for someone else to later gulp it down by mistake. A young man is caught mid-coitus with a warm apple pie (hence the name of the film). A laxative is slipped into someone‘s mochaccino with explosive results. If you liked the sperm-in-the-hair gag in There’s Something About Mary, then there’s a strong chance that you’ll enjoy this flick aimed at young adults.

The success of the film rocketed many of the actors to prominent roles in Hollywood, so you’ll immediately notice a lot of familiar faces. Jason Biggs and Eugene Levy make for a sweet pairing as father and son, and Levy’s wonderfully inept attempts to educate his son about sex are some of the high points of the film. Deservedly so, Levy is the only actor to appear in all seven (and counting) films of the American Pie franchise. For his part, Biggs makes Jim into a lovable loser, whether he’s discussing the hotness of The Little Mermaid or masturbating to scrambled porn channels. Seann William Scott is also more than effective as the jerkwad Stifler, and Alyson Hannigan’s goofy Michelle shows unexpected growth as the film heads down the home stretch.

I also found that following the post-American Pie careers of the actors and actresses involved was more than a little interesting. As I write this review, the film has been out for a full decade, and many cast members such as Shannon Elizabeth, Mena Suvari, Tara Reid and Natasha Lyonne have already seen their stars rise and then rapidly plummet back to Earth. Is it any coincidence that the previous names were all female thespians? Probably not, as a legion of young starlets are always waiting to replace those actresses who dare to turn 30.

The comedic dialogue of the film isn’t anything special, and it mostly relies on sight gags to carry it through. While this prevents American Pie from being a truly great comedy, it’s still solid enough to recommend for an evening of sweetly dumb fun. Besides, it’s the movie which popularized the term MILF (Mother I‘d Like to F*ck), and shouldn’t that count for something?