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American Pie
(1999) - Directed by Chris and Paul Weitz
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School Comedy/ Sex Comedy / Teen Comedy / Coming-of-Age
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"From now on, we fight for every man out there who isn't getting laid when he should be!"



I heard about this movie from the live-action Dudley-Do-Right movie when I was five. So, you can pretty much say I knew about it from day one. No, it was not a commercial for a rated-R movie on a kid's movie. There was a sweepstakes about six Universal movies, and this was one of them, Dudley-Do-Right and Mystery Men were two of the others. I'll find the commercial sometime. Anyway, long story short is that I was curious about this movie since before I even heard the word "sex," which, ironically, is the plot (or at least the buried treasure replacement) in the movie.

So after going to a party and either failing to get laid or getting themselves embarrassed before failing, they make a pact with each other to get laid before graduation. And then we pull the school / gross-out comedy out of our asses and there we go. Literally all you need to know. Literally it. Indiana Jones and the Search for a Score.

When the movie started, it was pretty much just a bunch of dumb sex jokes that I've heard before. Some of it was just really ****ing stupid, like the infamous, ahem, titular scenario. I wasn't really awestruck by any of these characters because they just kind of absorbed into each other for the most part. Whatever little differences there were between characters hardly mattered to me, although I admit to being half-amused by Jim's father and his awkwardness, but that was really hit or miss, being more cringe than comedy at times.

But the movie got better halfway through as it was diving into a little more actual philosophy concerning relationships and what not, not that I didn't see where it was already going. I suppose the delivery of these tropes and predictable plotlines was what really saved the movie from being a disaster. I mean, the whole thing with the footall game and the singing competition being on the same day is just so Nickelodeon. You can't tell me they didn't do stuff in at least half the shows I'm about to name: Full House, Degrassi, iCarly, Kenan and Kel, Naked Brothers Band, Drake and Josh, Ned's Declassified, DANNY PHANTOM.

American Pie feels a little pointless to me. I guess the direction and line delivery are technically good on all accounts, but the humor is hit-or-miss and the plot hardly qualifies as interesting. It's a trashy movie for adolescents lucky enough to be 17 or older, and has enough relatable teenage dialogue to hit the souls of the people who made it a hit by actually paying for it. God, the Weitz brothers convinced themselves that the step to success was through following in Tarantino's footsteps, and from a financial standpoint it worked, but from a critical standpoint the internet is mixed, and so am I. I'm not gonna call this the worst thing ever, but I honestly prefer the B-movie Space Truckers. Hell I prefer Captain Underpants books.

= 46/100

Chris Weitz's Directorial Score (1 Good vs. 2 Bad)

Twilight 2: 44
American Pie: 46
The Golden Compass: 64

Average Score: 51.33 / 3

Since two of his movies are bad, Chris Weitz is going on the bad list and given a maximum score of 49.9. However, his actual score will still be used for ordering directors in the same situation. I'll watch other Chris Weitz movies to potentially alleviate the situation.

Paul Weitz needs 2 more movies for an average score.