American Pie

American Pie (1999)
Director: Paul Weitz
Actors: Jason Biggs, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Chris Klein

Synopsis: Four high school seniors resolve to lose their virginity by the time the prom comes around in a matter of weeks…

Review: Forget its almost mythically over-baked risqué, gross-out reputation, American Pie has much more value as a classic piece of movie Americana. Just look at the familiar subject matter: a US high school primed at that hallowed juncture as the seniors are preparing to graduate. There are the typical student types – the jocks, the geeks, the oddballs, the “losers” and the choir girls. There’s the classic suburban Midwestern location. It’s all centred around the familiar teen arena of sports matches, glee clubs and house parties, and did I even detect the film playing a sly nod to John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club when “Don’t You Forget About Me” is played by the band at the prom? Even the film’s submission to sentimentality, a neat three act arc and tidy resolutions for its main characters, are hallmarks of classic Hollywood cinema.

Taken on those terms, the film is perfectly enjoyable, and Seann William Scott’s great boorish creation, Stifler, provides nice flashes of idiosyncrasy away from the more stereotypical characterisations of the four main friends. The film also has retrospective interest as throwback to the late ’90s, with a hook created around a webcam striptease sequence and a ropy soundtrack of nu-metal and trance music. (May 2013)