National Lampoon's Adam & Eve

When I think of National Lampoon I think of school-boy jokes, smut, innuendo, gross-out scenes and heaps of gratuitous flesh, beer and stupidity. It's the kind of thing I found outrageously funny at 13 (and still do 40 years later). There is scarcely any need for acting because the "actors" are playing themselves. But Adam and Eve is not like that. It has a plot, it has some character development, it even has some real acting in it. I enjoyed the basic premise of the story even if it has been done a hundred times before. It's an old theme, and it can do with re-examining on a regular basis as society changes (or doesn't). It had a few (relatively tame) gross-out scenes and some funnyish scenes but mostly it had what no National Lampoon should ever have: subtlety. Not great cinema, but a bit of good fun.

With great hopes of hearing that this movie was funny my roommates and i rented it. i would have rather watched grass grow, hung myself, or stab myself in the eye with a knife then watch this movie. the plot was weak at best, the acting was horrible. the big scene you wait the entire movie for was worthless. the only thing that held this movie together was the character of eve (Emmanuelle Chriqui) and the character munch (Brian Klugman). munch did some funny things, not laugh out loud funny but things that you wish you did in college. the character of eve was very attractive however lacked in acting. if you really want to waste a hour and a haft of your life go head watch this movie, but it frankly sucks. i've seen some bad movies, and this is surly on my top 3 all time worst movies list, hands down.

My girlfriend and I picked this movie up at the video store thinking to ourselves "This should be funny, National Lampoon is genuinely funny for those boring afternoons". We were sorely disappointed.

From the get-go, this movie looks like it could have potential. No. Stop thinking that. The acting is horrid, the jokes are not funny (I can't even think of a moment where I laughed, nor my girlfriend). We sat in disbelief as we waited for a joke to come, or possibly this movie to even get better - but no. The "National Lampoon" name was obviously tagged on so someone would actually watch this. Well that worked.

To sum this up, I watched the rest of this movie hoping for something funny (my girlfriend walked off and did something more constructive), something to justify the $5 I wasted on this. In the end, this one found its way back to the video store and I insisted that the movie was scratched so I could get another movie that would redeem that $5. Don't watch this movie, unless you're looking at how "not" to make a movie.

No one expects a movie with National Lampoon in the title to be high theater, but most National Lampoon movies are funny in a low brow way. "Adam and Eve" couldn't cut the mustard. Emmanuelle Chriqui is GORGEOUS, but that alone couldn't save the movie. The love story is sweet, and the chaste Eve is treated in a respectful way, but the script wasn't funny, the supporting characters were not funny. George Dzundza, who I remember fondly from his Law and Order days, was wasted in this film. The male lead seemed too stoned and apathetic to care about anyone. Thank God this movie was on Starz and I didn't have to pay for a ticket.

If you check the other comments, you'll hear about this being a great romantic comedy. It's not. As a romantic comedy, it barely passes muster. The laughs are few and far between, the plot is completely formulaic, and the only thing "National Lampoon" about this film is the title. Douglas is wooden as Adam, although Chriqui is very convincing as Eve. The frat-house shenanigans are tame beyond belief when compared to other Lampoon college movies, and the girl waiting for the perfect time to toss in her V-card is an old theme that isn't freshened in any way by this film. After great National Lampoon titles like "Van Wilder", "Animal House", and the "Vacation" movies, this one feels like the first attempt of someone straight out of film school.