Heißer Trip nach Texas

When I saw "Eurotrip" for the first time I heard this was some kind of sequel on "Road Trip". Since I watched "Eurotrip" and loved it, I had to see this one as well of course. Big was my surprise when I saw that none of the actors that were in "Eurotrip" were in "Road Trip". I might even say that the two movies have nothing to do with each other, except for the fact that both are about students who are about to make a long trip. Did I care? Certainly not, I loved this one as well!

The story is told by Tom Greene, who brings it as some kind of urban legend to future students and their parents who visit the university for the first time. He tells them that three guys went on a trip from Ithaca, New York to Austin, Texas, because they had to retrieve a video cassette. On the tape was supposed to be a video message for the life-long girlfriend of one of them, but instead it features him in bed with another girl. Of course someone has send the tape to her by accident and now he'll have to get it back before she sees it...

What you'll get to see is an hilarious movie that, it has to be said, isn't all too original. It follows the typical guidelines for teen comedies, but does it all very well. Even though it is irresistibly funny, I loved Eurotrip a little bit more. I gave that one an 8 and "Road Trip" a 7.5/10. Nevertheless, this is still one of those movies to see if you are with some buddies.

Usually this kind of film turns me off, but I was talked into watching 'Road Trip' with a bunch of college buddies and a couple of twelve-packs, and I couldn't stop laughing.

Josh (Breckin Meyer) has loved Tiffany (Rachel Blanchard) since they were both five years old. But Josh attends college in upstate New York, while Tiffany has gone to school in Texas. Josh's friends think he's crazy to keep up a long-distance relationship when there are plenty of girls around to . . . date. Particularly alluring is Beth (Amy Smart), who has the hots for Josh. When Josh is unable to locate Tiffany by phone and begins to suspect that she's been cheating on him, he gives in to his urges and brings Beth back to his dorm room for a night of hot love. Beth, eager to show how wild she can be, decides to videotape the encounter. The next day, Josh finds out that he couldn't reach Tiffany because of a family emergency, and is immediately wracked with guilt. Things get more complicated when his knuckleheaded suitemate Barry mistakes the sex tape for a video message to Tiffany which Josh had asked him to drop in the mail. Horrified at the thought of Tiffany popping a tape into the VCR to see him making the double-backed beast with another girl, Josh determines to travel to Texas to intercept the illicit tape. His two best friends--resident prankster E.L. (Sean W. Scott) and stoner-intellectual Rubin (Paul Costanzo)--offer to come along, and help Josh persuade mega-nerd Kyle (D.J. Qualls) to let them use his father's car in exchange for a chance to come along for the ride.

From that point on, 'Road Trip' follows the traditional teen exploitation comedy format, though with greater wit and intelligence than should be expected from the genre. Director Todd Phillips manages to give us slapstick, gross-out comedy while simultaneously poking fun at stereotypes and experiences familiar to anyone who's gone to college (psycho-sorority hazing, TAs trying to make undergrad girls, alcohol- and pot-related shenanigans, the nerd breaking bad, a hilarious run-in at an all-black fraternity house,etc.). Compensating for the adolescent hijinks is the surprisingly smart and thoughtful subplot for Kyle, who transforms from nerdy object of derision into the film's most likable and memorable character.

In the tradition of 'Animal House,' 'Road Trip' is crass and juvenile, but irresistibly funny. Not a movie for date night, but a good choice for gathering around the tube with bongs, brews, and bros. An instant joe six-pack classic.

In the University of Ithaca, while showing the campus to the new students and their relatives, the veteran tour guide Barry Manilow (Tom Green) tells the love story of his friend Josh Parker (Breckin Meyer). Josh has a girlfriend, Tiffany Henderson (Rachel Blanchard), who went to the University of Austin, and they promised to be faithful to each other. However, Josh has an affair with his sexy friend Beth Wagner (Amy Smart), and they accidentally videotape it. One of his friends sends the videotape to Tiffany by mistake, and Josh decides to travel to Austin with his friends E.L. (Seann William Scott), Rubin Carver (Paulo Costanzo) and Kyle Edwards (DJ Qualls) to retrieve the videotape before Tiffany sees it. Will he succeed?

"Road Trip" is a very funny comedy even when the viewer sees more than one time. Using the same storyline of "Overnight Delivery (1998)", with Paul Rudd and Reese Witherspoon, in the style of "Animal House" and "American Pie", "Road Trip" is so hilarious that makes laughing almost uninterruptedly with the humorous situations created by Barry Manilow, Josh, E.L., Rubin Carver and Kyle Edwards. Amy Smart is very sexy and DJ Qualls is the funniest character. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Caindo na Estrada" ("Hitting the Road")

You have to thank Something About Mary and American Pie for doing what they did. These are two movies that came along and were bold enough to try something different. Those films included raunchy jokes, crude humour, nudity and they had the audacity to poke fun at everyone, call them the Quentin Tarantino of comedies. Before American Pie, you had some ALMOST good films with Can't Hardly Wait and 10 Things I Hate About You. They were good but not quite good enough to be mentioned in the same breath as Animal House and Porky's and such. Then American Pie comes along and shows everyone that it is okay to have boobs again and to use the f-word liberally with lines like " Sherman, what the f*** are you doing here?" and " Oz, F***face, I don't think he's coming back!" This was a film that didn't try to imitate closely the way teens and young adults talk, it DID imitate the way teens and young adults talk. Road Trip continues that trend. Hollywood has to realize when it gives the green light to scripts that we are not as stupid as they think we are, in most cases. And what I mean by that is simply, sure, it can make money off almost any excuse for a teen film like Drive Me Crazy and Here On Earth and such, but if you want to hit the jackpot, if you want young people to feel the need to see the film more than once and recommend it to their friends, you have to have a smart ear, likable characters to laugh at and more than just a simple boy meets girl story. Road Trip is that movie!

When I went into the film, I was shocked but pleasantly so, to see Ivan Reitman and Dan Goldberg's name attached to the film as executive producers. These are guys that have brought us films like Animal House, Ghostbusters, Meatballs, Stripes and even something like Kindergarten Cop. These are all funny films with a great ear for dialogue. So it immediately starts off on the right foot.

The next thing it did right is the casting of Tom Greene and Sean William Scott. Greene is quite sick and twisted by nature and Sean William Scott stole every scene in American Pie. So to include them in your cast as the raunchiest guys of the bunch is great casting. The next thing the film does right is it goes back to the roots of campus comedy and it has plenty of nudity. Yes, sure this may sound sexist and primitive but it also sells tickets. And they can actually make a case for having it because the story is being told by Greene's character so, as he puts it, " it is my story, there can be lots of nudity if I want there to be. "

Road Trip has plenty of beautiful women, crude jokes, a nerd that discovers who he is, annebriation, drugs, mean sprited jokes and a script that is more convoluted and conventionally funny than any film save American Pie. Nothing is sacred here. That includes the blind, obesity, women, animals and of course nerds.

This is a fun film and although I am sure that it is garnered more towards males, if you can go in with an open mind anyone can enjoy it. I will bet that this film will go on to gross about 70 or 80 million dollars and I hope that more films are made in this kind of tradition. We need more films inspired by Animal House. We need more characters that are take-offs of John Belushi and Tom Greene. Maybe Ivan Reitman will have another script like this one on his shelf somewhere and he is ready to dust that one off as well. Maybe. All I know is that this film is fresh and it is worth your time.

And of course, most importantly, it is one hell of a funny movie!

8.5 out of 10

ROAD TRIP is a movie with well focused hilarity from start to finish. It is raunchy and wonderful, capturing college days with a light hearted frivolity that really tickled me so that I felt sick from laughing. The New York Times critic reviewed it on Friday, May 19th and said it much better than I can. He also loved the movie and found it very appealing, although neither of us is the age of the target audience, I suspect. I am 64 and love comedies. The sex and comedy is not at all offensive to viewers who have a well developed sense of humor. Sure, the serious and critical audience who love to find fault with any comedic effort will turn their noses up at this film. I do not recommend that they see this superb comedy. Tom Green is not the central character but he is very good in his role. The other cast members may not be well known but after this film it's just a matter of time before they are leading stars. All of the casting is just perfect. Photography and music are excellent. If this is the first of the quality that Montecito Pictures will produce they are a studio to follow in the future. Go see this film. Buy a box of popcorn and a Coke. Be careful not to choke on the popcorn from uncontrollable laughter. Take a long, hard swallow of the Coke and calm down. You will remember this evening for years!