Entertainment for Entertainment's Sake

Rating: 9/10 (11 July 1999)

Okay, I've never seen Porky's. Not on video, I've seen it on TV. Every reviewer in the country is calling American Pie "rehashed Porky's." And yeah, it might be, but who cares? It's a new generation, and, to be quite honest, American Pie was good. Damn good. Entertaining and everything.
What distinguishes American Pie from other high school comedies? There's no unlikeable characters. It gives you such a great feeling because you've known the characters in the movie when you were in high school. The characters do what you expect them to do. When Jason Biggs' character has a naked girl in his room, you yell at the screen for him to go to her, just like his friends persuade him to do.
The dorky guy that you know is lying about having sex, the butthead athlete that you like because he's so funny and stupid, the pretty cool athlete that straddles being king of the school and being himself, the guy who is just obsessed with sex, the dorky guy that hangs out with the semi-popular click, the couple that has been dating forever but aren't having sex, the chick that is so smart about life, the band geek that's got a wild streak. These are all characters we've known, and that's why it's easy to relate to them.
The power of American Pie is that it is not an artistically done movie, and it doesn't try to be. It knows it's not going to win any awards. It is a low-budget comedy with Eugene Levy that's main purpose for existence is to entertain. And really, isn't that what all films should do?