American Pie

Ah, for those carefree pre-AIDS days of the early '80s, when a sniggering teen sex comedy (Losin' It, Porky's, The Last American Virgin) could relax and be a sniggering teen sex comedy. In 1999, apparently, you need to be more socially responsible in your portrayal of high school horn dogs, which is the crucial, hypocritical miscalculation spoiling the puerile fun of the surprise hit American Pie. The premise is teen sex comedy at its most fundamental: four Michigan high school seniors, virgins all, make a pact to do the deed by prom night. Naturally, their tentative fumblings lead to some embarrassing--and occasionally very funny--situations. And even though the belly laughs are crude and far between--including a web-cast display of over-enthusiastic libido--American Pie is initially fairly effective in its unapologetic raunchiness. Then, without warning, it turns into apologetic raunchiness, featuring a sincere speech about how sex "isn't really that important" (quite a display of chutzpah from a film that has spent 90 minutes on the idea that sex isn't everything, it's the only thing). The message rings even more hollow after a four-way, er, climax in which the protagonists all find themselves scoring anyway before yet another message-y moment. American Pie plays the disingenuous game Don Rickles plays when he ends his set with the admonition that "we're all just one big family of Man"--this after a set full of jokes about tightwad Jews and Chinese drivers. If you're going to be naughty, at least have the nerve to stand by your naughtiness when it's funny. Not recommended. (S. Renshaw)[Blu-ray Review—Mar. 13, 2012—Universal, 96 min., not rated, $19.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1999's American Pie features a fine transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Extras carried over from the previous DVD release include both the unrated and rated versions of the film, audio commentary (by director Paul Weitz, producer Chris Weitz, co-writer Adam Herz and costars Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, and Eddie Kaye Thomas), a location featurette (11 min.), a live performance by Tonic (11 min.), casting tapes (8 min.), a “From the Set” photo montage with comments by the Weitzses' (7 min.), deleted scenes (6 min.), outtakes (3 min.), the music video “You Wanted More” by Tonic, a poster concept gallery, and trailers. Blu-ray extras exclusive to this release include a mammoth retrospective documentary on all three American Pie films (213 min.), “A Look Inside” featurette on the upcoming fourth film (4 min.), the “100 Years of Universal: Unforgettable Characters” promo (9 min.), bonus DVD and digital copies of the film, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for a hugely popular if also lame comedy.]