American Pie (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| American Pie | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster for American Pie |
|
| Directed by | Paul Weitz Chris Weitz |
| Produced by | Chris Moore Chris Weitz |
| Written by | Adam Herz |
| Starring | Jason Biggs Seann William Scott Shannon Elizabeth Alyson Hannigan Eugene Levy |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 9, 1999 |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~ US$11,000,000 |
| Followed by | American Pie 2 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
American Pie is a 1999 teen comedy film directed by Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz and written by Adam Herz. This was the first film directed by the Weitz brothers. The movie is centered on four boys who make a pact to lose their virginity by their high school graduation, and their subsequent adventures. The title refers to a scene in the film in which the lead character is caught having sex with a pie--earlier he was told that "third base" feels "like warm apple pie" It was a box-office hit and spawned two direct sequels: American Pie 2 in 2001, American Wedding in 2003. Singer Don McLean was credited for allowing the name of his hit song to be used as the title.
This film is number 49 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies". This movie ranked number 22 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted American Pie the 6th greatest comedy film of all time.
Since the conclusion of the American Pie trilogy, featuring the courtship and marriage of Jim Levenstein and Michelle Flaherty, the American Pie name has gone on to be used as an entity similar to National Lampoon. The American Pie entity has spawned two spin-off films: American Pie Presents: Band Camp, which was a direct to video release in 2005, and American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile was released on DVD in December 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
American Pie is the story of four Michigan high school seniors (played by Jason Biggs, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Chris Klein, and Eddie Kaye Thomas) who make a pact to lose their virginity before graduation after failing to do so at a party at Steve Stifler's (played by Seann William Scott) house.
Kevin Myers (Nicholas), the leader of the pact, tries to repair his relationship with his girlfriend Vicki (Tara Reid) after she has a serious fight with him at the party. Chris "Oz" Ostreicher (Klein), who is on the school lacrosse team with Stifler, joins the jazz choir, as the girls there know little of his insensitive jock reputation. Paul Finch (Thomas), the mochaccino-drinking sophisticate, pays Vicki's friend Jessica (Natasha Lyonne) $200 to spread rumors of his sexual prowess.
Jim Levenstein (Biggs) pursues Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), an exchange student from what is referred to as Czechoslovakia (despite the fact that Czechoslovakia was partitioned in 1993, six years before the setting of the movie, so Nadia should be referred to as either a Czech or a Slovak). She comes to his house to study with him, and has to change clothes there after ballet practice, so Stifler convinces Jim to set up a webcam so they can all watch her change. Jim runs over to Kevin's house to watch. Once he gets there, Nadia is seen on the computer discovering his pornography collection hiding in his dresser, and instead of finding it offensive, she begins looking through it while masturbating. Kevin urges Jim to run back home, saying this is his best opportunity. Jim arrives, and Nadia orders him to strip; meanwhile, it turns out that he had incorrectly addressed the e-mail to Kevin and Stifler, so instead of the link being sent to only his two friends, every mailbox in the school directory received the link; virtually the entire studentry is watching. As Jim slowly carresses her leg up to her genitals, he then climaxes prematurely. As Nadia is about to leave, he convinces her to stay, but upon seeing her full-frontally nude and touching her clean-shaven pubic area, he climaxes prematurely again, humiliating himself before the entire school. In desperation, Jim asks band geek Michelle Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan) to the senior prom, as she is apparently the only girl in the entire school who does not know what happened.
Finch, meanwhile, has his own troubles. Stifler, angry that a girl turned him down for the prom because she was holding out for Finch, puts a laxative into Finch's mochaccino. Unable to do his usual routine of heading home to use the toilet (Finch is paranoid about the lack of cleanliness in the school restrooms), Stifler directs him into the girls' restroom, for him to emerge before all of the other students, humiliated and left dateless.
At the party at Stifler's house after the prom, Kevin and Vicki have sex, but break up afterwards on the grounds that they will be too far apart in college, with him at the University Of Michigan and her at Cornell University; Oz and Heather (Mena Suvari), a girl from the glee club, have sex (having reformed, he never says they did), and end up in a relationship; Finch has sex with Stifler's mom (Jennifer Coolidge), fulfilling the pact and getting his revenge on Stifler; Jim and Michelle have sex, after he finds out that she saw the "Nadia incident" after all (it was the whole reason she accepted the date; he was a "sure thing"). He is, to put it mildly, rather surprised by her behavior in bed. In the morning he wakes up to find her gone, an inflatable dinosaur in her place. Essentially, she used him (which Jim thinks is "cool").
[edit] Characters
- Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) - Jim is the main character, and easily has the worst luck out of all the characters, being always in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is obsessed with sexual intercourse, and is frequently caught in some kind of embarrassing sexual act, most often by his father. He makes a pact with Kevin, Oz, and Finch to lose his virginity before he graduates. After a humiliating experience with a beautiful foreign exchange student, Nadia, he asks a band geek, Michelle, to the prom, has sex with her and eventually marries her in American Wedding.
- Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) - Kevin Myers is the leader of the group, and creates the laid-before-prom-night pact with Jim, Oz, and Finch. He is a loving boyfriend to Vicky, with whom he has only gotten as far as third base. He wants to have sex with her in an honest and romantic way, but is afraid to say the word love. He and Vicky eventually break up, not wanting to have to go through with a long distance relationship. It is Kevin's older brother who gives him the Sex Bible, and suggests that the group go to the lake house in American Pie 2. In American Wedding, it is revealed that he has a girlfriend, though her identity is never revealed.
- Chris "Oz" Ostreicher (Chris Klein) - Oz is a stereotypical jock who is not as good with women as he thinks. When he makes the pact to lose his virginity, he meets and falls in love with a choir girl named Heather. His friendly and sensitive side emerges from the whole experience, and it leads to him having a serious relationship with Heather, consummated at the post-prom party. He is absent from American Wedding.
- Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) - Finch is an intelligent sophisticate who enters the pact to lose his virginity. He hires Jessica to spread good rumors about him, and soon has a big reputation, which is quickly lost after a diarrhea incident in the girls bathroom, caused by Stifler. Finch soon gets revenge on Stifler by having sex with Stifler's beautiful and oversexed mother. Throughout the series, he waits to see Stifler's mother again, and has sex with her at the end of all three movies. He is mortal enemies with Stifler, who calls him "shit break" because of his habit of not using the school toilet, as he thinks public toilets are not hygienic enough.
- Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) - An obnoxious, loudmouthed jerk, Stifler is more obsessed with sex than the other four guys put together. He refers to himself as the "Stiffmeister". He is only popular because he throws great parties and his mom is a MILF. He causes a multitude of problems for the other characters, and seems to hate everybody, especially Finch, whom he nicknames "shit break" (see above). He is a bad influence on his younger brother Matt, who, while much younger, has a similar personality to his older brother. Stifler's vocabulary consists usually of sex talk, crude and/or sexual insults, and any more general profanities. Stifler matures somewhat in American Wedding, after accidentally wrecking all the flowers for the wedding he feels compelled to make amends and fix things by enlisting the football team he coaches and a florist in an all night session to replace them. He is frequently the victim of "gross-out" moments, most commonly the unintentional consumption of some bodily secretion (semen in American Pie, urine in American Pie 2, and dog feces in American Wedding). Continuing the family tradition, his brother Matt consumes saliva in American Pie Presents: Band Camp.
- Michelle Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan) A band geek who has many annoying stories about her experiences at band camp (a running gag within the movie). She first shocks Jim with the line: "And this one time, at band camp, I stuck a flute in my pussy", and proves to be very sexually adventurous. She goes to the prom with Jim, and they eventually marry in American Wedding.
- Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) - A sexy girl from what is referred to as Czechoslovakia (it is not clear whether she is from Czech Republic or Slovakia, as Czechoslovakia disappeared in 1993, six years before the time of the movie), with whom Jim nearly has his first sexual experience via the internet, but ends up humiliating himself instead. She still has a thing for Jim, and Jim spends the course of American Pie 2 preparing for a visit from her. He eventually chooses Michelle, his "geek", over her. Nadia is sexually aroused by "geeks", and Sherman (also known as The Shermanator) proves to be her perfect replacement for Jim. She is absent from American Wedding.
- Victoria (Vicky) Lathum (Tara Reid) - Kevin's girlfriend, who will not let Kevin have sex with her unless everything is perfect. She and Kevin eventually have sex, and they soon break up, not wanting a long distance relationship. She soon gets a new boyfriend. Vicky is absent from American Wedding.
- Heather (Mena Suvari) - A choir girl, Heather is really sweet and innocent. She is charmed by Oz, and the two fall in love, and eventually have sex (Oz chivalrously demurs from telling his friends whether they did). In the first summer of college (American Pie 2), she and Oz successfully maintain a long distance relationship. She is absent from American Wedding.
- Jessica (Natasha Lyonne) - The sexually experienced expert. She convinces Vicky to have sex with Kevin, advises Kevin on how to get Vicky in bed with him, and spreads good rumors about Finch, to give him a reputation. She is absent from American Wedding.
- Noah Levenstein (Jim's Dad) (Eugene Levy) - Jim's geeky father, who does not know how to have a comfortable "birds and the bees" type conversation with his son. Whenever something humiliating happens to Jim, he's always there to try and cheer him up. He also walks in on Jim masturbating on more than one occasion. In spite of his geekiness, he is still a supportive, and loving father who has a good relationship with his son. He becomes the leader of the band camp in American Pie: Band Camp. His First name is revealed to be Noah in the Naked Mile.
- Janine Stifler (Jennifer Coolidge) - Stifler's gorgeous mother who is coveted by every boy in the school, often referred to as a MILF. She has sex with Finch at the end of all three movies. She is referred to, and likes being called, "Stifler's mom," during sex.
- Chuck Sherman (Chris Owen) - (also known as The Shermanator) is a nerdy kid who lies about losing his virginity prompt Jim, Oz, Kevin, and Finch to make their pact. It turns out that he never even had sex, and the girl he lied about humiliates him in front of everyone at the prom. He eventually has sex with Nadia in American Pie 2, and becomes the school guidance counselor in American Pie: Band Camp.
[edit] Location
Much of the film is based on the writer's days at East Grand Rapids High in East Grand Rapids, Michigan[citation needed] an upper middle class suburb of Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the film, the town is referred to as "East Great Falls" and the high school sports the same school colors - blue and yellow - along with a similar mascot - the East Great Falls Trailblazers as opposed to the East Grand Rapids Pioneers. The restaurant, Dog Years, is based on the East Grand Rapids hangout Yesterdog.[citation needed] The "Central Chicks" and "Central" Lacrosse team that East Great Falls plays against is based on Forest Hills Central High School (the real-life long-time athletic rival of East Grand Rapids) located just east of East Grand Rapids.[citation needed]
[edit] MPAA rating
In the original version, when Stifler drinks the semen-filled beer, Thomas Ian Nicholas' character says "Hey Stifler, how's the man chowder?" However, the MPAA would not allow this line (not even in an NC-17 rated cut), so the line was changed in postproduction to "Hey Stifler, how's the pale ale?" The "pale ale" Stifler drinks is actually beer with egg whites in it. Also, The MPAA refused to allow Jim to masturbate with the pie by lying on top of it and thrusting into it on the counter. He could only do it standing up.
[edit] Cameo
- blink-182 made a cameo appearance as the band watching Jim and Nadia during their webcast. Travis Barker, the drummer, was incorrectly credited as Scott Raynor, the previous drummer for the band.
- A young Christina Milian also makes a cameo as one of the band geeks.
[edit] Trivia
England cricketer Ian Bell was nicknamed 'The Shermanator' by his Australian counterparts during the recent Ashes series between England and Australia due to his uncanny resemblance to the character in the film.
An IP address shown briefly during the webcam scene resolved at the time of the film's release to a departmental Web server at Johns Hopkins University.
According to interviews, the most uncomfortable scene to shoot was the scene in which Vicky is eaten out by Kevin.
In the scene where Steve Stifler drank the "Pale Ale", a goof is seen when the girl he is trying to seduce holds the clear glass of beer. The glass changes to a solid blue cup and then back again when the camera switches.
[edit] Soundtrack listing
| American Pie | ||
| Soundtrack by Various Artists | ||
| Released | June 29, 1999 | |
| Length | 46:02 | |
| Label | Uptown/Universal | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
- Third Eye Blind — "New Girl"
- Tonic — "You Wanted More"
- blink-182 — "Mutt"
- Sugar Ray — "Glory"
- Super TransAtlantic — "Superdown"
- Dishwalla — "Find Your Way Back Home"
- Bic Runga — "Good Morning Baby"
- Shades Apart — "Stranger by the Day"
- Bachelor Number One — "Summertime"
- Goldfinger — "Vintage Queen"
- Bic Runga — "Sway"
- Loose Nuts — "Wishen"
- The Atomic Fireballs — "Man with the Hex"
- Barenaked ladies — "One Week"
Although both were featured in the movie, Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life", Libra Presents Taylor's "Anomaly (Calling Your Name)" and Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta" (heard during the first montage of the characters beginning their quests for dates) were not included on the soundtrack.
[edit] External links
|
American Pie series
|
|
| Main Series: |
American Pie | American Pie 2 | American Wedding |
|---|---|
| Spin Offs: | |
| Main Characters: |
Jim Levenstein | Chris Ostreicher | Paul Finch | Kevin Myers | Steve Stifler |
