Article Surfing Archive

Nominated for zero Academy Awards, American Pie is a lewd, crude teenage comedy that's probably the funniest movie of 1999. In the tradition of Animal House, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, and other such comedies, the film makes its mark as one of the better written screenplays in the genre. The clever one-liners and memorable scenes are so abundant that few seconds of the film lack one or the other. If you can't laugh at American Pie, then you've got serious problems. Along with Office Space and There's Something About Mary, it's one of the best comedies of its time.

Jason Biggs plays the role of Jim Levenstein a normal high school student in American suburbia. Together with his friends Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher (Chris Klein), Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas), and Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), he makes a pact to lose his virginity by prom night. Seeing that it's senior year, the task calls for immediate attention, and the four friends find that it's not as easy as they had originally planned.

Kevin's task seems to be the easiest as he is involved with long-time girlfriend Vicky Lathum (Tara Reid). Meanwhile, Chris joins the chorus (discovering he has an unknown talent off the lacrosse field) where he falls for Heather (Mena Suvari) who initially wants nothing to do with him. Finch relies on self-perpetuated rumors to make his personal stock rise, while Jim comes close to doing the deed with the beautiful foreign exchange student Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth). When Nadia is sent home, Jim's hopes rest on band camp survivor Michelle Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan). As prom night closes in, each must determine his own fate, while wondering what the final outcome was for his friend.

In American Pie, Eugene Levy steals the show as Jim's father. His monotone, straight-forward attempts to be hip and to befriend his son are gut-busting in nature. His feeble attempts to explain sex and his encounter with Jim and the pie in the kitchen are some of the funniest scenes in the movie. That's saying a lot, because American Pie is a hilarious movie with lots of buzz words like "M.I.L.F." and quirky characters like Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott). That said, only a certain age demographic will find American Pie to be among their film favorites.

Scenes such as the Internet cam with Jim and Nadia will be forever famous, and the movie lacks any sort of a slowdown. From beginning to end, the laughs are truly non-stop. Following its release, American Pie became an instant cult classic, influencing its target generation and pioneering the depths of the young adult vocabulary. Because of its utterly hilarious scenes and prominent role in the teenage comedy genre, American Pie ranks as a definite must-see movie.