Eurotrip

Okay, I admit it. Sometimes I enjoy dumb comedies, like "Police Academy" or "Joe's Apartment". And this is nothing if not a dumb comedy.

This type of film--the teen sex comedy--is precisely the sort of movie professional critics love to hate, instead recommending that we see artsy, coma-inducing independent, documentary and/or foreign-language films. But let's face it: "Animal House" was better than "Eraserhead". "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" was better than "Babette's Feast". "American Pie" was better than "The Crying Game". And "Eurotrip" is better than "Capturing the Friedmans".

Now, since my favorite movies include "The Godfather", "Citizen Kane" and "Vertigo", you may ask why I liked this picture. Is it well-acted? No. Isn't the script stupid? And how. Is there any socially redeeming value? I couldn't find any. Isn't it xenophobic? Uh-huh. Doesn't it portray women as merely sex objects? Yep. Isn't it awfully crude? Yewbetcha. But what makes this film worth watching is quite simple: It's funny.

Granted, there's no greatness here. You will not see anyone as funny or talented as John Belushi, Bill Murray, Sean Penn, Cameron Diaz, Eugene Levy or Will Ferrell here. The only cast members with any real acting or comedic mettle are Matt Damon and Fred Armissen, who only make brief cameos. On the other hand, you won't see anyone as gut-wrenchingly awful as Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Tom Cruise, Ben Stiller, Tom Green, Seann William Scott, or Ashton Kutcher.

There's not much plot to speak of. A nice guy (Scott Mechlowicz) who has just graduated high school goes on a trip to Europe to find the girl of his dreams, a Berliner named Mieke (Jessica Boehrs) and takes along his three best friends: a lazy ne'er-do-well looking for kinky sex like in European erotica (Jason Pitts), a girl looking for romance like in European novels (Michelle Trachtenberg) & a nerd looking for museums like in European travel brochures (Travis Wester). Along the way they run into all the various European stereotypes: thuggish Brits, pretentious French, perverted Italians, desperately poor Eastern Europeans, etc.

Yet as crude and xenophobic as this movie can sometimes be, it is never anything but good-natured. I never got the sense that the filmmakers displayed any ill will towards the peoples they were lampooning. And I must say, for as much sex and nudity as there is in this movie (and there's a whole lot of it), the biggest laugh I got was a PG-rated battle of the robot mimes in Paris, which may be the only scene in the movie that can be shown un-edited on TV.

Although this may not be great art, or even great comedy, "Eurotrip" is a terribly crude, but awfully funny movie. 7 out of 10.

First of all: Greetings from a guy living somewhere in between the Brussels sprouts, hahahaha. That's right, I'm from Belgium, you know the place that no-one really knows, not even the Europeans...

Even though I expected to really hate this movie, I have to admit that I had a lot of fun watching it. I loved to see how they magnified the stereotypes about the French, the English, The Germans,... and made fun about the Catholic church. Some people pointed out that it was clear that the makers really don't know anything about the countries they were making jokes about. Possible, but it didn't bother me once. It's a comedy, not a traveler's guide!

This is how the story goes: A teenager is dumped by his girlfriend on the day of their graduation. He has contact with a German girl, called Mieke, but he thought it was a guy called Mike. Knowing this and after he has seen her photo, he decides to pay her a visit in Berlin. But of course they don't just end up in Berlin. They start their trip in London, going to Paris, Amsterdam and Bratislava before getting to Berlin...

The movie's script or the plot were probably the least of the director's concerns. It's clear that they just wanted to go to Europe, have some fun and film one hilarious situation after the other. I've got the feeling that most of the European viewers didn't mind being the subject of the movie. Yes it's crude and yes it doesn't show anything about how Europe really is, but it's also incredibly funny. I give it an 8/10 for that.

First off this movie is definitely not for families. There are some scenes that some might not like or depending may find offensive but I found this movie funny, even today it still makes me laugh.

It's no academy award winner but no one is asking it to be. It's a funny, at times raunchy comedy that knows what it is and delivers that comic escape from a world that lately has gone insane quite well.

Unlike the typical movie goer, reviewers are acutely aware that films WHICH MAY SEEM UNREMARKABLE at the time of release can improve, like wine, with age.

This film is possibly the best teen comedy of the era.

That the cast is likable and works well together is a given.

What makes Eurotrip stand out are "set pieces" which stick in your mind decades later.

In my case, the ringing of the bell in the Vatican followed by the "white smoke" routine is unforgettable. But there are other gems here too.

Highly recommended.

Eurotrip may have been panned by critics, but most of my millennial friends hold it up as a classic raunch-com. It is truly hilarious. And you can't help but walk away from watching it while singing "Scotty doesn't know..."