American Pie

 In 1998, “There’s Something About Mary” hit theatres and took physical comedy to a whole new place. Before this, we laughed at the likes of Jim Carrey and Eddie Murphy with their over the top energy and talents at impersonations giving us a good chuckle. But then, out of nowhere came a movie starring non-comedic actors, who found themselves in a film where we clearly see a guys genitals get stuck in his zipper, a small dog attack that guy and leap out of a two-storey window, and that same guy again, jerking off before a date to loosen up, then losing his load, which his date then mistakes as hair gel. Comedy became gross and vulgar overnight, and from here on, any funny film had to push the envelope.

The following year, the trend was continued with a little film called “American Pie”. Marketed directly at teens, a colourful cast of young actors play a bunch of high school students just weeks away from graduation. We meet four young guys, all friends, who don’t have much luck with the girls. At a regular house party one night, they all have their attempts and failures of sorts, then awaken the next morning shocked to see an even uglier and dorkier class mate called The Sherminator, hook up with a hot chick. Determined not to go to college as virgins, the guys make a pact to lose their virginity before prom in just three weeks. What follows is madness, mayhem and baked goods!

American Pie is a memorable movie for many reasons. The story is so stupid at it’s core, but completely relatable, especially for the teenage boy. That almighty quest to have sex for the first time is what consumes every teenagers mind almost every second of the day, and for guys, we tend to build it up so much it either becomes our sole pursuit or an impossible challenge. It doesn’t help when you’re the klutz, the sensitive guy, the loner or the guy with a girlfriend who just can’t get past third base, such as our characters, but when you’ve got a pal who hosts all the parties, always seems to score and makes it look so easy, aka Stiffler, then maybe it’s possible?

Before any teenage boy has experienced closeness with a girl or even has the faintest idea what sex is like, all he can do is fantasize or speculate. For example, our hero of the story Jim (Jason Biggs) is the central character who undergoes the biggest challenge of all – just try not to look like a complete idiot all the time. He’s so awkward, timid and foolish, nothing goes right, and to add to that pressure, his overbearing dad – who just means well – can’t take a hint that his dispensed wisdom on the birds and the bees is just a little too graphic for a father-son conversation. 

Then there’s Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), the quieter one of the group who already has a girlfriend, but cant get passed third base. At least he knows what it feels like, and refers to Jim as just a “Bat Boy”. Kevin is ready for sex, but his girlfriend Vicki (Tara Reid) is waiting for the perfect time, perfect place, etc. To help in his mission to bed his girlfriend, Kevin inhabits a special book called “The Bible”; a collection of sexual tricks and tips passed down by his brother and many generations of horny teens before him, which Kevin uses to pleasure Vicki and discover Sexual Wisdom! 

Then there’s Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), the mysterious one of the group, who speaks like a forty year old man, drinks coffee at school and assumes to be much more wiser than his more immature counterparts. But Finch doesn’t have looks on his side, as well as standards that are probably a bit too high for his level. 

Then the last one of the foursome is Oz (Chirs Klein), the Lacrosse player and sensitive Jock. He thinks of himself as something of a “Cassanova” and blurts out direct one liners to girls hoping that will get them to lower their guard. But they tend to just laugh at him. It doesn’t help these guys holy quest when their much more confident but equally obnoxious class mate Stiffler (Sean William Scott) constantly gives them crap for being desperate virgins.

These characters were so well drawn out and made believable by the performances of the actors, that a whole generation of teens found their defining movie in American Pie. Many would say “Clueless” was the defining teen movie of the 90’s, and although good it is solely focused on the wealthy, bratty teens of Beverly Hills, and most of us can’t really relate to that – we can only laugh at the self-mockery of the rich and spoiled. But the characters in American Pie were more relatable; kids from the suburbs, who went to house parties, and had the most genuine and real of intentions. They weren’t pretending to be anything other than themselves, even if they were completely pre-occupied with sex.

American Pie starts with a bang – Jim getting caught by his parents trying to watch a porno and jerking off into a tube sock – then builds up to even more reveals as the plot develops. Jim sets his sights on Nadia, the beautiful foreign exchange student in his class. She’s so hot, he can’t even bare to be around her. But when she politely asks for his help to study, inviting herself over to his place, there’s a chance for him to see her naked, and the stage is set for an Internet Broadcast of Boobies! It’s a hilarious moment, where Jim tries anything he can to score, not realising the entire school is watching the antics online. 

After he fails with Nadia, Jim meets Michelle; a nerdy, quirky girl who constantly talks his ear off with stories about Band Camp. Seeing he doesn’t have many options, Jim asks Michelle to the prom, hoping to make her The One, but Michelle proves there’s more to her than there seems and has her own agenda for Jim – making him her Bitch! But before she uses Jim her way, she will share one final story of band camp, where she found a new use for her flute…

American Pie hits all the right notes, and it’s easy to see why this teen film has stood the test of time, still being as funny and watchable today as it was seventeen years ago. It was followed by three sequels, all good quality, as well as some spin off films which were ok. It’s a film that makes us laugh at ourselves as teens, when all we can think about is sex, and how ridiculous we were in building it up so much in our heads. The act we think about, talk about, fantasize about and chase to the ends of the earth, is usually such a brief, fleeting moment, afterward we wonder what all the hype was about. American Pie is all about the fascination with sex and the opposite sex, and also introduced us to such memorable characters – most notably Stiffler – and coined the phrase that has now entered pop culture and stayed there. “Dude, that chick’s a M.I.L.F. A Mom I’d Like to… (you know the rest)

Now, who would like some warm apple pie?

 

 

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