American Pie (film)

American Pieis a 1999 Americancoming-of-ageteensex comedyfilm directed and co-produced byPaul Weitzand written byAdam Herz. The film's mainensemble castincludesJason Biggs,Chris Klein,Alyson Hannigan,Natasha Lyonne,Thomas Ian Nicholas,Tara Reid,Mena Suvari,Eddie Kaye Thomas, andSeann William Scott, withEugene Levy,Shannon Elizabeth,Chris Owen, andJennifer Coolidgein notable supporting roles. The story follows a group of high school classmates who make a pact to lose their virginity before they graduate.
After the success ofWes Craven'shorrorteen filmScream(1996), Herz began developing the script forAmerican Pie, originally titledUntitled Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10 Million That Most Readers Will Probably Hate But I Think You Will Love. A bidding war between major film studios ensued, andUniversal Pictureswon the film's rights in 1998. First-time directors Chris and Paul Weitz were attached as directors for the film, although only Paul was credited. Under a new title ofGreat Falls, filming took place from July to September 1998. Despite receiving anNC-17rating from theMotion Picture Association of America(MPAA), edits were made to secure an R rating. The film's title was later changed toAmerican Pie.
Released theatrically by Universal on July 9, 1999, in the United States,American Pieinitially received mixed reviews from critics, who were polarized on the raunchy humor but praised the performances. Nonetheless, the film was a box office success, grossing $235.5 million worldwide on a $10 million budget.American Pierevived the teen sex comedy genre for the late 1990s. The film's success also spawned afranchise, including three theatrical sequelsAmerican Pie 2,American Wedding, andAmerican Reunion, and fivedirect-to-videofilm seriesAmerican Pie Presents, consisting ofBand Camp,The Naked Mile,Beta House,The Book of Love, andGirls' Rules.
At East Great Falls High School, Michigan, four friends await the end of their final school year before college: the sexually inexperienced Jim Levenstein; the insensitive schoollacrossestar Chris "Oz" Ostreicher; the intellectual and philosophical Paul Finch; and Kevin Myers, who is desperate to have sex with his girlfriend Vicky. During a house party hosted by womanizingjockSteven Stifler, the friends learn that their dorky classmate Chuck Sherman has apparently lost his virginity. Frustrated by their own lack of sexual experience, the four friends make a pact to lose their virginity by prom night in three weeks.
Kevin struggles to seduce Vicky, who wants to wait for the perfect moment to lose her virginity and fears that Kevin only wants sex because he will not say that he loves her. On the advice of Vicky's friend Jessica, Kevin tries to win Vicky over by giving her an orgasm. Guided by his older brother, he discovers a book of sex tips compiled by former students and uses the 'Tongue Tornado'cunnilingustechnique to successfully rekindle their relationship. Finch pays Jessica to spread rumors about his sexual prowess and large genitalia, making him popular with the high school girls. When Stifler's prom date ditches him, hoping Finch will ask her instead, Stifler spikes Finch's mochaccino with a laxative and sends him to the girls' restroom, where he experiencesexplosive diarrhea. A crowd gathers to mock Finch, ruining his carefully crafted reputation. Oz joins the school choir to pursue girls unaware of his reputation, but he learns to enjoy performing, and gains the attention of choir girl, Heather, who invites him to the prom. She rescinds the offer after realizing Oz is faking his sensitive persona, but reconciles with him after seeing his genuine efforts to change.
Desperate for experience, Jim, inspired by Oz's description of a vagina, has sex with a warm apple pie, but is humiliated after being caught by his father. WhenCzechforeign exchange student Nadia asks Jim to help her study at his house after her ballet class, Stifler convinces him to set up a webcam so they can watch her change clothes. Jim unwittingly shares the livestream with the school's entire e-mail directory, letting everyone watch as Nadia undresses and masturbates to Jim's porn collection. Kevin and Finch encourage Jim to walk in on Nadia, which he does, and she invites him to join her but, to her disappointment, heprematurely ejaculatestwice before they can have sex. After this public incident, Nadia is sent back to theCzech Republic, and Jim becomes the laughingstock of the school. Frustrated, and believing she did not see the livestream, Jim asks the ostracized and seemingly naive band geek, Michelle, to the prom.
As school draws to a close, Oz, realizing his feelings for Heather have become sincere, abandons his lacrosse championship game to perform a duet with her. At the prom, Kevin insists Jim, Oz, and Finch fulfil their pact and lose their virginities, but they refuse, frustrated at the social pressures to have sex for the sake of it, and accuse Kevin of using the pact to hide his own fear of losing his virginity. After learning that Sherman lied about having sex, the boys reconcile with Kevin, who admits he is afraid.
At Stifler's lake house post-prom party, Kevin finally tells Vicky he loves her and they have sex. Afterward, Vicky ends their relationship, admitting it is unrealistic for them to maintain a long-distance romance while attending different colleges; they part while affirming their love for each other. Oz confesses his feelings to Heather and they spend a romantic night together by the lake. Finch propositions Stifler's mom and they have sex on the pool table; Stifler later walks in on them and faints. Michelle reveals her aggressive sexuality and takes Jim upstairs to lose his virginity. The next day, Jim, Oz, Finch, and Kevin meet up and discuss how things will change after high school, making a toast to their next step.
American Piealso featuresClyde Kusatsuas an English Teacher;Lawrence Pressmanas Coach Marshall;Molly Cheekas Jim's Mom;Christina Milianas Band Member;Eden Riegelas Sophomore Chick;John Choas "Milf" Guy;Sasha Barreseas Courtney;Eric Livelyas Albert;Eli Marienthalas Stifler's Younger Brother; andCasey Affleckas Kevin's brother.Rock bandBlink-182membersTom DeLonge,Mark Hoppus, andTravis Barkermake a cameo appearance as band members watching Nadia's and Jim's livestream.
ScreenwriterAdam Herzwas looking to revive theteensex comedygenre, which previously saw a boom period in the 1980s.UsingPorky'sandBachelor Partyas inspiration, Herz wrote a script that was based on his days atEast Grand Rapids High SchoolinMichigan.He wanted to make "a teen comedy that talked to kids on their level – which meant making an R-rated movie".
Spurred on by the box office success ofScream, which signaled the return of teen films, Herz completed the first draft of the script in six weeks.The screenplay, tentatively titledUntitled Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10 Million That Most Readers Will Probably Hate But I Think You Will Love,sparked a bidding war among studios, which was won by Universal Pictures for $750,000 in 1998.Universal tappedChrisandPaul Weitz, who had cowritten the 1998 animated filmAntz, to direct the film. Said Chris, "We were as surprised as everybody else when we got the gig because we had never directed a frame of film before".ForAmerican Pie, Chris and Paul shared directing duties, though only Paul remains credited.
Universal wanted to castJonathan Taylor Thomasin the role of Jim Levenstein,but the actor turned it down.Bill Murraywas considered for the role of Noah Levenstein, Jim's dad.Eugene Levywas ultimately cast in the role, which was originally written to be "much more of a red-meat, All-American dad guy", but Levy decided on playing him as more of a "neurotic, suffering, overprotective, overinvolved father".
Principal photographyon the film, then titledGreat Falls, began on July 21 and wrapped on September 11, 1998.
Though set in Michigan, the film was shot in Southern California, particularlyLong Beach.Millikan High Schoolwas used for exterior shots, andLong Beach Polytechnic High Schoolwas used for interior shots. Both schools are within five miles of the Virginia Country Club andLos Cerritosneighborhood (whereFerris Bueller's Day OffandDonnie Darkowere filmed).
In the film, the town is called "East Great Falls". The restaurant hangout, "Dog Years", is based onYesterdog, a popular hot dog restaurant in the nearbyEastownneighborhood of Grand Rapids.The "Central Chicks" and "Central" Lacrosse team that East Great Falls plays against is an amalgam of nearbyForest Hills Central High School.The working title for the film had been "East Grand Rapids".
Due to the film's modest budget, Universal gave the filmmakers considerable creative freedom during filming, which allowed the actors to improvise much of the dialogue.
In May 1999, shortly before the film's release, Universal sold the international distribution rights to American Pie for $4–$5million, with additional bonuses based on the film's performance. The film rights were among the most popular being bid for at the 1999Cannes Film Festival, the majority of which were purchased bySummit Entertainment, covering all non-English speaking territories.This sale was part of a financial risk mitigation strategy by Universal, but many Hollywood executives saw it as misguided given the film's relatively low budget of $11.8million,$20million in international marketing costs, and the fact that international box offices were contributing 55% or more to a film's global gross.Premieremagazine predicted that the film would be the eighth highest-grossing film of the summer with a predicted gross of $100 million in the United States.According to theLos Angeles Times,American Piewas predicted to become asleeper hitof the summer, and had the potential to break the convention that American teen comedies typically performed poorly outside of the country.
The film originally received an NC-17 rating from theMotion Picture Association of Americauntil edits were made to secure an R rating.Universal wanted an R rating to distinguish it from recentPG-13teen films.
American Piewas released in the United States and Canada on July 9, 1999.During its opening weekend, it grossed a total of $18.7million from 2,508 theaters—an average of $7,460 per theater—making it the highest-grossing film of the weekend, ahead ofWild Wild West($16.8million) in its second week of release, and ahead ofBig Daddy($16million) in its third.In its second weekend,American Piefell to the number 2 position with a $13.6million gross—a 27.5% drop from the previous week—placing it behindEyes Wide Shut($21.7million) and ahead ofLake Placid($11million), both in their debut weekends.It fell to the number 3 position in its third weekend with a gross of $10.1million, behind the debuts ofThe Haunting($33.4million) andInspector Gadget($21.9million).American Pieleft the top-ten highest-grossing films after five weeks, with a gross of $85.5million, and left theaters after 25 weeks with a total gross of $102.5million. This figure made it the 17th-highest-grossing film of 1999.
Outside of the United States and Canada,American Pieis estimated to have grossed an additional $132.9million,receiving its highest grosses in Germany ($33.5milion)—where it spent four weeks at number one and was the highest-grossing film of the year—the United Kingdom ($22.1milion), France ($13.7milion), Australia ($10.3milion), and Italy ($8milion).
With a cumulative worldwide gross of $235.5million,American Piebecame the 12th-highest-grossing film of 1999, ahead ofBig Daddy($234.8million) and behindThe Blair Witch Project($248.6million).
On review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 62% approval rating across 130 critics, with an average score of 5.8/10. The consensus reads; "So embarrassing it's believable,American Piesucceeds in bringing back the teen movie genre."OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 58 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".Audience polls byCinemaScorereported moviegoers gave the film an average grade of "A−" on anA+ to Fscale.
Positive reviews praised the cast and saw it as an update on the teen sex comedy genre.Owen GleibermanofEntertainment Weeklycalled it a "hybrid of the sincere and the synthetic", adding, "It reflects a major shift in contemporary teen culture that the girls inAmerican Pieare as hip to sex as the boys."Film criticRoger Ebertawarded the movie three out of four stars. He noted that "[i]t is not inspired, but it's cheerful and hard-working and sometimes funny, and—here's the important thing—it's not mean. Its characters are sort of sweet and lovable."
Much was made of the film's use of gross-out comedy, which many compared to the similarly raunchy 1998 filmThere's Something About Mary.On this matter, Ebert commented, "I discover that gross-out gags are not funny when their only purpose is to gross us out, but they can be funny when they emerge unwittingly from the action...[American Pie]observes the rules of comedy".Mary Elizabeth WilliamsofSalon.comgave a mixed review in which she praised the casting and said "the surprise ofAmerican Pieis that it turns out to be not just another examination of good girls and the piggish boys who want to get into their pants. The male characters here actually evolve into something more than mere slaves to their priapism".Writing for UK publicationSight & Sound,Kevin Maheropined "it is only in the presence of the female characters thatAmerican Pieoffers genuine wit and sparkle".
More negative reviews criticized the reliance on gross-out gags and described the film as a rehash of 1980s teen sex comedy tropes.Stephen HoldenofThe New York Timessaid, "Among this year's bumper crop of shallow teen-age movies, it is the shallowest and the most prurient. It may well be the biggest hit."Writing for theSan Francisco Examiner,Wesley Morrissaid the film has "a ludicrously holy take on girls", but praised the cast and saidAmerican Pie"is more interesting in unintentional ways, like the fact that it chooses sentimentality as its payoff rather than cringe-worthy scatological horseplay".Jim Sullivan ofThe Boston Globewrote thatAmerican Pieis a "gross and tasteless high school romp with sentimental mush."The Hollywood Reporter's print review said the film "has a likable cast, but the actors appear throttled back by a pedestrian script and direction. Consequently, one winds up liking the film more than it deserves because of the gameness of its attractive cast".
At the 2000American Comedy Awards, Eugene Levy was nominated for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.At the6th Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Levy won Favorite Supporting Actor in a comedy film, while Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari were nominated for Favorite Actor and Actress (Newcomer), respectively.At the2000 MTV Movie Awards, American Pie was nominated forBest Movie, with Biggs receiving nominations forBest Comedic PerformanceandBreakthrough Male Performance. Shannon Elizabeth was nominated for Breakthrough Female Performance.
The film garnered six nominations at the2000 Teen Choice Awards, includingChoice Comedy, Choice Breakout Performance and Choice Liar for Chris Klein,Choice Sleazebagfor Seann William Scott, Choice Actor for Biggs, and Choice Chemistry for Biggs' scene with the apple pie.Joseph Middleton and Michelle Morris Gertz also won the Artios Award for Best Casting for Feature Film from theCasting Society of America Awards.
American Piewas released onDVDandVHSon December 21, 1999, in both theatrical and unrated versions.The unrated version was released January 11, 2001 onlaserdisc. A new two-disc Ultimate Edition DVD release of the film debuted on July 31, 2001, to coincide with the release of its successorAmerican Pie 2.
The film's soundtrack peaked at number 50 on theBillboard200chart.
The following songs were included in the film but were not featured on the soundtrack:
For the film's 20th anniversary in 2019, critic Scott Tobias wrote about the film's legacy forThe Guardianand opined that its success is partly due to how it captures the awkwardness of "sexual mortification", namely casting it as both "identifiable and wildly over-the-top".He also noted the film's influence on the raunchy but sensitivebromantic comedymovies to come, such asJudd Apatowmovies likeThe 40-Year Old VirginandSuperbad. "In 1999,American Piewas at the end of one phase and the beginning of another, which is why it seems both dated and prescient – a relic from a randier era of cable-ready frathouse and gross-out comedies, and a look ahead to a sweeter brand of raunch, rooted in deep friendships and the possibility of a more mature, longer-lasting romance."
However, Tobias and other writers acknowledged some of the more toxic aspects of the film, such as its commentary on women, masculinity, and the set piece involving Nadia being filmed without her knowledge or consent.He wrote the film "gives so little thought to the opposite sex, who are either brazenly lusty or careful gatekeepers of their own chastity, waiting for an 'I love you' or some other show of sensitivity, like a password at a speakeasy. Women seem as inexplicable to the film-makers themselves as they are to the characters. That's been an unfortunate part of the continuum of teen sex comedies, too, long beforeAmerican Pieand well past it."Screenwriter Adam Herz admitted to wanting to make a film that was less sexist than teen movies of the past likePorky's, but that he did not totally succeed with his script.
American Piefeatured the breakout roles for many of its main cast, including Biggs, Elizabeth, Hannigan, and Lyonne.Scott was considered the film's true breakout mainstream star, moving from working multiple day jobs to a full time actor,though few of the cast were able replicate their successes outside of theAmerican Pieseries.
American Pieis frequently cited in lists recognizing the most iconic teen films.OnEntertainment Weekly's list of the 50 best high school movies,American Piewas ranked at #22.
The saying "MILF(Mom I'd Love to Fuck)" was used in regard to the character of Stifler's mom (Jennifer Coolidge). The film's usage of "MILF" helped popularize the term and introduce it to a mainstream audience.
A scene in the film in which Jim sticks hispenisinside anapple piebecame arguably the most infamous scene from the film.
American Piewas among a slew of teen movies to be spoofed in the 2001 parody filmNot Another Teen Movie.The film parodies the famous pie scene, the characters of Oz and Nadia, and the teens' virginity pact.
The success ofAmerican Pieled to immediate development of a sequel,American Pie 2(2001), which surpassed the financial success of the original film.The main cast returned for the film, which follows the boys' holiday adventures at Lake Michigan after their first year of college.In a 2001 interview, Herz said that as long as audiences remained invested in the characters, they could be an untold number of sequels.The success ofAmerican Pie 2led to a third film,American Wedding(2003), which also performed well financially, though less so than its predecessors.Depicting the impending wedding between Jim and Michelle,American Weddingomitted several main cast members, including Klein, Suvari, Reid, and Lyonne, for unspecified reasons.
The lower box office gross ofAmerican Pie 3led to the development of four direct-to-home-video spin-off films under theAmerican Pie Presentsbanner:Band Camp(2005),The Naked Mile(2006),Beta House(2007), andThe Book of Love(2009).These films focus on different characters to the mainline series, but feature Levy as Jim's dad and various Stifler relatives.
A fourth main entry,American Reunion(2012), brings the original cast back together as the friends gather for their high school reunion after several years. WritersJon HurwitzandHayden Schlossbergreplaced Herz, aiming to provide a new take on the franchise.A fifthAmerican Pie Presentsfilm,Girls' Rules, was released in 2020, following a female group of friends.The four main films have grossed $990million together which, combined with the "lucrative"American Pie Presentsspin-offs, has made theAmerican Pieseries a $1billion franchise as of 2020.