Road Trip

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

Similar in style to American Pie, and ultimately stemmed from the likes of Porkys and Animal house, this movie was right up my street.

Josh Parker is separated from his childhood sweetheart by a difference of collage and of course 1800 Miles, until he videos himself having sex with someone else and accidentally sends it to her.

The road trip then begins, and its a journey of disaster, discovery and above all laughs, as Josh tries to get to his sweetheart before the tape does.

A really funny film, with the right ingredients.

8/10 Also check out, American Pie, Old School and if you fancy something older try Porkys and Animal house.

This is a typical movie that's perfect to watch to kill some time with. It's by no means a great, or highly memorable movie but it's still a movie that serves its purpose.

Even though I highly enjoyed watching this movie, it wasn't as funny as expected. The movie could had really used some more comical sequences and situations. There were many missed opportunities in the movie but still that doesn't of course mean that the movie is bad. The biggest strength of the movie is its fun feeling. There are some great comical moments, although not as many and as constant as I expected and hoped for.

Another great thing about the movie are the characters. Breckin Meyer might not had been the best choice for the main character but all the other characters are simply great to watch, especially DJ Qualls. Tom Green's antics were not always funny simply because he isn't a great actor. It also was perhaps a bit too much distracting from the main storyline.

It's a great movie for teenager to watch and it has some typical teenagers humor in it, which I'm sure they'll find hilarious at times. Adults will most likely not be able to fully appreciate all the jokes in the movie.

7/10

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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!

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")