MOVIE REVIEW: American Pie: More American than Apple Pie

James Harvey, Staff Writer

Paul Weitz’s American Pie is a timeless classic that while devoid of any deeper meaning provides a relatable and entertaining premise keeping viewers on the edge of their seats and wanting more.  The story depicts four high school seniors on an important mission – to lose their virginities before they graduate.  Each of these characters has his own unique experience with many ups and downs as they embark on this epic quest.

The movie features no leading man but instead focuses on each of the four friends – Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Chris “Oz” Ostreicher (Chris Klein), Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) and Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas).

Kevin begins with a girlfriend but they break up in the very beginning, causing him to spend the rest of the movie trying to win her back.  On the other hand, Jim begins the movie with no girls in his sight, and after an unfortunate webcam experience he is farther than he ever had been before.  But he lucks out when a band geek with a frisky sexual attitude asks him to prom.  “Oz” is more confident than his friends, and in order to change his reputation as a jock he decides to join the choir where he ends up falling for a “prude” girl.  Finally, Finch spreads rumors about his desirable sexual traits but soon gets outed as a fraud and faces public humiliation in front of the entire school.

While throughout the course of the movie the plot lines are largely separate, they all come together at the end for a post prom rager at their friend’s lake house.

The movie is best described as a raunchy slapstick comedy using no special effects.  It does however effectively use music to set the mood of the story featuring the hit “Do You Believe In Magic” by John Sebastian.

Overall “American Pie” is an outrageously funny movie for anyone of any generation and will go down in history as an unforgettable classic.