Rent American Pie (1999)

Outdated Teenage Sex Comedy - American Pie review by GI

It spawned a series and is a bit of a cult favourite although there are some scenes in this American teenage sex comedy that are considered somewhat problematic when viewed today; in particular an extended scene where boy covertly streams a girl getting undressed in his bedroom that he has inadvertently shared with the entire year of his school. Today that scene would not be allowed. It's interesting or at least difficult to comprehend the lightness at which this scene is taken in the narrative and ultimately its final acceptance by the girl in question. But that aside this is quite a puerile comedy and lacks the real laughs that other films of this type have managed far better such as Porky's (1981). American Pie is set in a Californian senior High School where the students are approaching graduation and their prom night. Four of the boys are particularly obsessed with sex and make a pact with each other to lose their virginity by the end of prom. The film is then their clumsy efforts to achieve this with mixed results. There's some famous scenes here not least one with an apple pie although the best scenes involve Eugene Levy as the father of one of the boys who does his embarrassing best to pass on some relationship wisdom to his son. A popular comedy that does attempt to balance the teenage mindsets of both sexes as they navigate the complexities of relationships, love and sex but it hasn't dated well and the film sits firmly in the teenage boy audience demographic.