Ciao review formatting seems tottally screwed, sort it out guys its making it hard to read anything
Ciao review formatting seems tottally screwed, sort it out guys its making it hard to read anything
Member since:29.08.2002
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There are certain pressures every High School student seems to endure and one of the most common is the urge to lose their virginity. So for Jim and his 3 friends, Oz, Kevin and Finch it is imperative that all 4 of them manage to do it before they leave High School. So they make a pact to help each other along the way and ensure they all succeed. What then ensues is 95 minutes of comedy that keeps you laughing from start to finish, including some rather funny moments featuring an Apple Pie and another with some Beer.
It has now become one of the classic comedies of recent time and American Pie is probably a film that the majority of people have now seen. It is one of those films that regardless of how many times you have seen it, it still has the ability to keep you laughing. In that respect it is a very good all round comedy and while the High School setting will inevitably have put people off watching it, this really shouldn't be the case. Yes the subject matter is a little bit crass but I think that just adds a bit more humour to the plot.
For director Paul Weitz it was to turn out to be a very good debut film and having since gone on to direct About A Boy and American Dreamz it seems to have really made a name for him. He lets the cast blend together well and one he gets the group dynamic he was clearly looking for the film works all the better for it. Rather than rely on huge budgets and special effects, he gathered a group of up and coming actors and moulded them into the story in the way he clearly imagined the film should look. In fact it worked so well that the same dynamic managed to spawn a further 2 films with by and large the same cast.
The strangest thing though is that while Weitz has started to make a career for himself, the writer Adam Herz seems to have almost disappeared. He followed up the success of this movie by working on the second instalment of the series and since then seems to have taken a bit of a back seat. With the success that this movie had and given how funny it was it seems almost a shame to see he hasn't really done too much since. That said he has created a timeless movie here that most people can at least identify a little bit with.
One of the real bonuses about the American Pie movies is that the cast was made up of a number of up and coming young actors. There are a number of very good and incredibly funny performances within the movie. In particular Jason Briggs in the lead role as Jim works very well. He has that sort of look about him and you can't help but sympathise or perhaps that should be laugh at his attempts to achieve his goal.
Along with Briggs impressive performance there are also some good performances from the likes of Tara Reid, Alison Hannigan, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Chris Klein. It is however perhaps fair to say that Seann William Scott by far and away steals the show as Stiffler. The sex crazed party animal that seems to get into all sorts of amusing situations. By and large thought the cast are all very good and work incredibly well together. As a viewer you get a sense of a real togetherness amongst the cast and I think that really helps with the chemistry during the plot,
Overall this is a very good film that unlike a lot of comedies seems like it will stand the test of time. Of course they have milked the series with now 6 films in total and more than likely more to come but by far and away the original one is certainly the best one. It won't appeal to everyone and if the idea of watching a group of what are essentially school kids getting into all sorts of jams then it's perhaps one to avoid. Other than that it is a very good film, with laughs throughout, decent acting and works well as a comical spin on a rite of passage we all went or go through at some point.
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May 22nd, 2003
(Jun 14th, 2008)
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