Hilarious Porky's style fun

Rating: 7/10 (15 February 2006)

It certainly has a lot to answer for. The various duplicates Hollywood managed to fart out in it's wake - some pretty good (Orange County) most excremental (Van Wilder) - might force even the most easily tickled specimen to rethink American Pie's worth. I can safely assume most of them would still think it one of the best gross-out comedies ever. It it probably always will be that sub-genre's Citizen Kane.
Whereas the likes of Animal House and Fast Times At Ridgemount High were more of an amusing observation of various deadbeats and juveniles, American Pie manages to find heart in it's characters. I still love John Belushi's impression of a zit, don't get me wrong. But I think American Pie's compassion is what gives the cake it's icing - that and Eugene Levy (I wish he was my dad :D). Jim (Jason Biggs)'s attempted conquest of foreign exchange student Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) is certainly cringe-worthy but never crass. We like Jim. We want him to succeed. He's definitely somewhat of a dumbo, but not a complete fool. And for once the female characters have a healthy balance of sexual attitude, which in the past was mostly about guys trying to catch them changing.
Don't get it twisted. This is a rude and crude comedy, with some great gags and a few stock characters that we didn't need. Some of the films worst moments involve Chris "make a table out of me now" Klein attempting to shed his jock image to reveal his sensitive side, which apparently involves joining the choir and then singing and dancing in the male showers. For all the gross gags in the film, this was certainly the most vomit-inducing. But apart from that there isn't much to complain about.
Easily offended? Probably not for you. For the rest of us though, this is unadulterated hilarity, with a side order of sweet.