In the opening scene of "American Pie," the parents of virgin high-school senior Jim (the charming Jason Biggs) catch him masturbating while he watches his cable provider's scrambled pornography channel. When this scene is followed by Jim's obnoxious but amusing friend Stifler (a Jim Carrey-esque Seann William Scott) accidentally drinking a glass of beer mixed with semen, it becomes obvious that "American Pie" seeks to be a frank and surprisingly modern look at the topic of teen sexuality.
"American Pie" is yet another in a recent trend of movies - which includes "The Slums of Beverly Hills," "Cruel Intentions," "Rushmore" and "Election" - about America's sexual culture. But unlike the aforementioned films, "American Pie" sheds the others' dark message and takes a comical look at teenage sex and sexual discovery in the spirit of the classic 1980s flicks "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Porky's."
In what is probably the most clichd plot device ever, Jim and his three best friends - sensitive jock Oz (Chris Klein, from the brilliant "Election"), sophisticated philosopher Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and almost-in-love Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) - decide to make a pact to find girls and have sexual intercourse by the night of their prom. Despite the silly pact, the movie manages to whip up some surprisingly unique and crisp humor.
Unlike the "South Park" film and most Adam Sandler movies, "American Pie" focuses on witty situational humor relating to sex, as opposed to disgusting potty humor. Most of the consistent laughs stem from the skilled performance of Eugene Levy in the part of Jim's father. His dead-straight delivery of blunt discussion about sex with his son keeps audiences laughing while also making them feel Jim's discomfort. Dad doesn't just stop at sexual discussion either - he brings along "Hustler," "Shaved," and almost pushes Jim into bed when he finally finds a woman. When Oz tells Jim that sex is like "warm apple pie," and Jim does the nasty with such a pastry, it is Levy that provides the real laughs in after-the-fact discussion scenes.
In another ten-minute laugh-fest, director Paul Weitz's ("Antz") situational comedy and editing skills become clear when Jim finds himself dancing naked in front of a gorgeous foreign exchange student (Shannon Elizabeth) while being broadcast over the Internet. Rarely do movies use technology creatively (and accurately) to build new jokes from old material.
A clever script also adds to the fun when Finch's character serves as a hilarious spoof of "The Graduate" complete with Simon and Garfunkel. When Finch asks a middle-aged woman what alcohol she likes to drink, the script gives us such lines as, "Scotch, aged 18 years, the way I like it." When confused Kevin asks his girlfriend's best friend (Natasha Lyonne from "The Slums of Beverly Hills") how he can finally have sex, she says, "If you want to hook up with her, tell her you love her. That's how I was duped." All this excitement comes from clever scriptwriter Adam Herz.
The movie even gives a nod to "The Breakfast Club" with a perverse prom band playing "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds.
Aside from the movie's humor, "American Pie's" treatment of the subject of sex is refreshing; it refuses to stoop to beating 1950s sexual values over young viewers' heads. Characters that have sex do not end up being the villains, and there is no big epiphany where all characters realize they want to wait until they are in love or married.
Instead, the movie presents sex in all its forms - as love, recreation, pain and humor - at face value, without judgment.
Despite these smart moves, the film still manages to go astray in some scenes. At one point, the film does give in to (literal) toilet humor. Also, when Oz's lacrosse coach gives a nauseatingly over-the-top carpe diem speech, when Kevin's girlfriend (the beautiful Tara Reid) manages to hit audiences over the head with her views of realism at the film's end and when Oz and his girlfriend (Mena Suvari) from the strangely perfectly racially diverse a cappella choir discuss their individuality, it is obvious that Weitz and Herz lost their restraint. And although there's some feminism thrown in, often the women in the film serve only as pretty faces. To their credit, it is the female characters who decide the guys' sexual fates, and this adds another dimension to the film.
In the end, the film has more laughs than directing blunders, and that is what makes "American Pie" succeed. The movie may lack the eloquent subtext of "Rushmore" and "Election," but as most summer movies are, the film is intentionally whimsical - and usually hilarious - to avoid depressing its audiences. And despite what the MPAA says (the movie is rated R and had to be resubmitted thrice to avoid an NC-17 rating), this movie speaks perfectly to high school teenagers and nostalgic college students. Instead of insulting them and giving in to the forced moral values of the over-sensitive MPAA and the current political climate, it manages to parody high school sexual discovery in a frank and uproarious manner.
