Release Date: February 20, 2004
Starring: Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts, Nial Iskhakov, Michelle Trachtenberg, Vinnie Jones
Directed by: Jeff Schaffer
Written by: Alec Berg, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer
Distributed by: DreamWorks
MPAA Rating: R (sexuality, nudity, language, drug/alcohol content)
There are comedies that completely embarrass themselves and moviegoers by taking the easy way out with bodily humor and painfully mindless scenarios, all wrapped inside a terribly weak story. As surprising as it may be, Eurotrip is not one of those. It’s directed towards teenagers but like 2003’s Old School, another enjoyable comedy that flourished on self-styled foolishness, this is a movie that actually capitalizes on original jokes and goofy characters. What it delivers won’t change the face of the genre, like Wayne’s World or American Pie, but it’s good enough for those who are hoping for 90 minutes of silly, R-rated fun.
The movie’s premise is actually quite ridiculous -- but like any decent comedy, you won’t be caught up in that. In it, Scott Thomas (Scott Mechlowicz) discovers that his German pen pal is not the perverted man he thinks he is but is in fact a gorgeous blonde (Jessica Bohrs) looking for a boyfriend. Now Scott must do whatever he can to take back his last email to her, which basically told her to get lost. So he decides he’s going to pack a bag and travel to Berlin to find her, along with his horny best friend Cooper (the David Spade look-alike Jacob Pitts). They eventually meet up with a twin brother and sister pair (Nial Iskhakov and Michelle Trachtenberg), who are conveniently vacationing in Paris, and antics ensue as they work their way across the continent to find Scott’s true love.
Never mind that Scott and Cooper are fresh out of high school and have responsibilities with their respective jobs and families. The movie excuses these logistic implausibilities with two humorous plot devices: Cooper, who is supposed to be working an internship at a law firm, answers his work cell phone while across the Atlantic and manages to convince his boss that he’s in the basement record room sorting files; and just when we’re starting to wonder why the boys’ parents haven’t noticed they’ve left there’s a jump cut to the Thomas household, where Mr. Thomas (Jeffrey Tambor) responds to his wife’s question about the location of their son: “Damned if I know.”
When comedies fully recognize the nonsense that’s rampant within themselves, the effect can be truly fun. However, at the same time the minds behind the nonsense mustn’t get carried away, and that happens occasionally throughout Eurotrip -- which is why it won’t necessarily be remembered years from now. By the time the teens end up in Rome in the third act and stage a completely ludicrous scene that includes a papal impostor, things have gone too far. And when they’re in Amsterdam and think they’re in a bakery that serves “special” baked goods, or when Cooper finds himself in an unpredictable sex dungeon, the humor is more tedious than it is fresh.
Some scenes are quite original, though. You’ve surely never seen a nude beach in the movies like the one they show here, which is as funny as it is disgusting. And a few other running gags give the film some ground to stand on, such as Scott’s obscene email alert sound and a perverted Italian trying to make “friends” with one of the boys on their train. In short, it’s not all the same stuff we’ve seen in comedies before and that’s definitely a welcome thing.
There are even a small number of cameos to spice things up, and they add to the fun most viewers will already be having. But they may also be the only things that keep older audience members from wanting to walk out, so don’t bring mom and dad along. That’s probably already a given to those planning to see Eurotrip, though. And it’s those viewers that can be comforted to know that this is a sufficient comedic pleasure.
-- Andy Zientek (zfilm@earthlink.net)