ROAD TRIP
Rated R - Running Time: 1:31 - Released 5/19/00
I have oft bemoaned the poverty of substance in teen movies; the
execution of these films is usually on a par with the shallow
nature of their subject matter — not only are they about
immature people with immature sensibilities, but they appear to
be written and directed by members of that sophomoric group. Occasionally,
however, you have one like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, or
Detroit Rock City, or
Road Trip, which, though they don't exactly present an
intellectual treatise, are at least well-written and well-performed.
Directed by Todd Phillips, who also co-wrote the film with Scot
Armstrong, Road Trip features a talented cast, a clever
story line, and some hysterically funny situations. Phillips is
clearly trying to follow in the footsteps of last year's fantastically
successful American Pie;
in my opinion, his film is even better.
The story of Road Trip is told by a student who, it
could be charitably said, is not playing with a full deck. Barry
(Tom Green) is a tour guide and perpetual student at Ithaca University;
one of Phillips's cleverest devices is the decidedly impressionistic
nature of Barry's version of events. Green's oddball delivery
ably matches the part.
Barry's friend Josh (Breckin Meyer) and his girlfriend Tiffany
(Rachel Blanchard) have been together since they were kids. However,
since Josh went to Ithaca (New York) and Tiffany enrolled at the
University of Austin (Texas), the two are forced to engage in
a long-distance romance. Plagued by fears of Tiffany's infidelity,
Josh tries repeatedly to contact her, but gets no response. In
a moment of weakness, he is convinced by party-boy E. L. (Seann
William Scott) to get together with Beth (Amy Smart), an attractive
girl who has a serious crush on him. They not only sleep together,
but videotape it, just for fun. And, as it goes in fluffy stories
like this, the tape gets mixed up with the lovesick video Josh
had made for Tiffany, and is mailed to her by mistake.
In Barry's hazy interpretation, which includes inexplicably
topless coeds and occasional audience participation from the baffled
members of his tour, Josh decides he must travel cross-country
during midterm week and try to beat the package to Tiffany's residence
hall in Austin. He and E. L., along with physics genius Rubin
(Paulo Costanzo) and Kyle (DJ Qualls), a geek who owns a car,
set out on the 1800-mile journey, leaving Barry behind to take
care of "Mitch" the python. Barry is eager to oblige,
since he desperately wants to witness the snake consuming a live
mouse. The boys' trip takes them from one dilemma to the next,
including misadventures at a black fraternity, a sperm bank, a
school for the blind, and Barry's grandparents' house.
This film is very much in line with the genre to which it belongs; there are no great philosophical statements to be made. It's a beer-drinking, dope-smoking low comedy with plenty of T and A and a warped sense of values. But in this case, and unlike many of its kind, it's actually intelligent, and therefore, funny. In my book, that excuses a lot of its transgressions. ****