AMERICAN PIE
The four heroes of our story are all seniors at East Great Falls High School
in Michigan. Contrary to their most fervent wishes, Jim (Jason Biggs), Kevin
(Thomas Ian Nicholas), Oz (Chris Klein), and Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) are
all sexually innocent late in their senior year. Dreading the unspeakable
possibility of starting college as virgins, they take a solemn oath to have
sex with someone by prom night. Preferably female.
The only one who has a steady girlfriend is Kevin, but Vicky (Tara Reid)
has that annoying girl rule of wanting him to say he loves her first. He
can't bring himself to do that, of course. Vicky's worldly (that
is, promiscuous) girlfriend Jessica (Natasha Lyonne) keeps encouraging her
to take the plunge, but she's still not sure she's ready. Jim has perfected
the art of autoeroticism, but he keeps getting caught by his parents. His
father (Eugene Levy) adds humor by trying to educate him about women, buying
him porno magazines and, to Jim's horror, discussing his own experiences.
Finch plans to score by reputation, paying Jessica $200 to spread the word
among the girls that he's "well-endowed." And Chris joins the
jazz choir, seeing it as an untapped resource since none of the girls there
know of his ill-advised intentions. He meets a young singer named Heather
(Mena Suvari), and, against his better judgment, falls in love.
This film seems to be more a study in humiliation than a commentary on high
school life or sexual mores. I counted at least 3 instances of the entire
student body laughing at some poor sap who has just endured a very public
embarassment of a very intimate nature. Bodily fluids and toilet humor are
again quite prevalent, but one can't blame Herz for that — he's only
following the example set by such successful films as There's
Something About Mary and, more recently, Austin
Powers: the Spy Who Shagged Me. As for the acting, well . . . the
principals are generally believable, but some members of the supporting
cast seem to have been hired more for physical characteristics than acting
ability.
The idea of sex as a goal for teens is an unfortunate message, but not a
new idea. We've seen variations of it in films like She's
All That, Cruel Intentions,
and Can't Hardly Wait. American
Pie is better than all three of those combined; it's certainly entertaining,
and apparently far less raunchy than its original NC-17 version. Too bad
— it would have been better as a porn film. ***
Copyright 1999 by John R. McEwen and The Republican