american pie acknowledges a cold , hard fact that most movies do n't : it is very difficult to get laid .
its four virgin heroes are jim ( biggs ) , a chronic masturbator , kev ( nicholas ) , who desperately wants to deflower his girlfriend ( reid ) , oz ( klein ) , a lacrosse player whose approach requires some fine tuning , and finch ( eddie kaye thomas ) , a germphobe ( his crass nickname is hilarious , but i wo n't spoil it here ) who pays a classmate to spread rumours about the size of his member .
jim , kev , oz and finch attend a high school in suburban michigan full of so many impossibly beautiful women
it 's no wonder they 're horny all the time .
after a party at their studly friend stifler 's ( seann william scott , in the film 's sharpest performance ) house leaves them sexually unsatisfied , the quartet make a pact : to " lose it " by graduation - specifically , prom night , which is only a few weeks away .
american pie is in the tradition of bachelor party or revenge of the nerds .
almost every conversation these characters have revolves around makin ' whoopee .
all women are there to be ogled .
( alyson hannigan 's perky music student is the only memorable female of the bunch . )
situations abound that defy logic only to arouse and/or amuse its core audience , adolescent boys .
( to arouse : nadia 's ( shannon elizabeth ) internet striptease - an unexpectedly raucous ( and guiltily pleasurable ) sequence .
to amuse : jim 's lusty encounter with a hot apple pie . )
what differentiates american pie from those dirty eighties comedies , aside from a very nineties obsession with bodily fluids * , is a cast that 's light years more appealing
than that of , say , just one of the guys .
two more standouts : klein and " sctv " 's eugene levy .
klein plays a kind - hearted athlete for the second time in a row , after alexander payne 's underappreciated election .
i hope to see more of this warm actor with the disarmingly honest face very soon .
levy 's is the most crowd - pleasing performance , and indeed , it 's nice to see him back on the big screen in a role that makes wonderful use of that expressive brow .
american pie also wants to emulate the teen flicks your parents
_ would _ let you watch growing up .
it skillfully employs a broad mix of pop tunes , much like john hughes ' movies did , and even pays homage to the breakfast club a couple of times , most evidently when the prom band covers simple minds '
" do n't you ( forget about me ) . " the picture ultimately has a healthy , if obligatory , attitude towards safe sex - even at their most libidinous , american pie 's protagonists first whip out a condom .
the filmmakers prove that socially responsible raunch is possible .
for its familiarity and for its charming leads , i recommend american pie , but the buzz on this film had me expecting something . . .
fresher . as far as the new teen cinema goes ,
it 's at the top of the heap .
* do n't say i did n't warn you about the party scene .
it 's at the top of the heap two more standouts the picture ultimately has a healthy , if obligatory , attitude for its familiarity and for its charming leads , i recommend i hope to see more of this warm actor with the disarmingly honest face very soon light years more appealing the most crowd - pleasing performance , and indeed , it 's nice to see him back on the big screen in a role that makes wonderful use