Eurotrip: Passaporte para a Confusão

I saw this film on opening night in the new theater here in town. Though there weren't many people at the showing, the folks that were there constantly had things to laugh at. If there were an Oscars for single scenes the robot dance/fight scene would take the prize in the comedy category hands down. There were many other laugh out loud scenes in movie, including English soccer hooligans, a strange Italian train passenger, and some papal city shenanigans that were very funny. Over all I gave this film a rating of a 6.5/10, which I rounded to a 7 because it made me laugh.

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.

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.

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..."

Most negative reviews seem to miss the point that the movie is not making stereotypes of European countries and cultures. It is making fun of American stereotypes of those cultures. While most comedies start funny and at some point get serious with a need for a plot that loses all the humor, EuroTrip keeps building momentum throughout. Watch it, and then watch it again.