Review of American Pie

Movie #13 - American Pie

One of the original high school comedies of my generation. This movie came out in theaters when I was entering my sophomore year of high school. It basically shaped my view of high school - this film along with other ones such as She's All That, Can't Hardly Wait, and Never Been Kissed.

American Pie is a tad bit campy in that it overemphasizes sex - I mean, teenagers think about sex, but I don't think anyone is constantly thinking about it 24 hours a day for three weeks straight like these kids. I do like, however, that they chose to have each character experience sex in a different way - some of them realistic and others not so realistic. Take Jim for instance, played by Jason Biggs. He has his two sexual encounters with Nadia, a foreign exchange student, and Michelle, a crazy band geek. Both of his experiences are ridiculous, and would never happen in a realistic setting, but I feel like they fit Jim's character. He wants sex so bad that he will dance in front of a webcam and get attacked in a child's bedroom by a lunatic. Next there is Finch. Finch's story may seem out there, but it is something that could possibly happen...to 1 in a million teenage boys. If your friend just happens to have a cougar of a mother, then Finch's story may be possible for you. Then there's Kevin...poor, Kevin. His high maintenance girlfriend keeps asking for him to say he loves her, and when he finally does, she says their relationship isn't working out anymore. Although this is sad, and it makes you want to punch Vicky (played by the useless as always, Tara Reid), it happens to a lot of teenagers when they approach their senior year and have to head off to college. Now onto Oz. I love Oz's story. He finally meets a girl that makes him change his ways. He goes from being called 'Casanova' and hitting on every woman he sees to being a decent guy that makes Heather (Mena Suvari) fall in love with him. They're believable as a couple. Young love hits you fast, and it is totally realistic to feel like you're falling in love after knowing someone for only three weeks. At the end of the movie, you don't even care if Heather and Oz really had sex or not, because you love them as a couple. Lastly there's Stifler. Stifler is the most realistic portrayal of your average high school male that I have seen in a movie in a long time. He wants the women, and he gets them, but he will never really "get" a girl. He is full of himself and cares more about embarrassing his friends than helping them. He's a jerk - which proves my "he's your typical high school male" theory. You're welcome, men.

This movie will always be a classic to me. It's a staple of my high school years that will live on forever. I also love this movie because, for many of the actors, this was their first big break. Jason Biggs and Thomas Ian Nicholas were already established actors, but the remaining cast members were either brand new to the acting scene or fairly new. This movie helped them push off into Hollywood. Some of them succeeded (Seann William Scott) and others failed miserably (Chris Klein).

I give American Pie 3.5 out of 5 stars.