American Pie

American Pie, the teen movie of the week, is a hybrid product between Porky’s and last year’s There’s Something About Mary.

The plot, for lack of a better word, is about four high school seniors and their resolution to lose their virginity before graduation in three weeks.

Each character is examined with comical overtones. Jim (Jason Briggs) is a pudgy mess whose sexual misfortunes take place at home. Oz (Chris Klein of Election) is a jock who joins the glee club to meet chicks. Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) has a steady (Tara Reid) who won’t go all the way. Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is a skinny kid with an aversion to public bathrooms.

There’s nothing new in this film, as everything culminates at the senior prom.

The premises of numerous other films are "borrowed," for example, The Graduate, American Graffiti, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. There’s even the laxative-in-the-drink trick from Dumb and Dumber.

There’s also an "Austin Powers" gross out scene involving bodily fluids, but it would take a Congressional investigation to determine if it is a case of cinematic plagiarism. Hollywood, suffering from a dearth of creativity, is recycling the past for the enormous untapped teenage market.

The result is an R rated film that will prompt theater owners to work overtime to check the ID’s of those who will try to sneak in to see it.

For your information, "American Pie" derives it title from an after school adventure with Jim, a freshly baked apple pie on the kitchen table, and Jim’s doofus father (Eugene Levy). It receives the biggest laughs, but once again, has no originality. Think of the liver scene from Philip Roth’s novel "Portnoy’s Complaint" (I didn’t see the screen version) and you’ll know exactly where it’s going.

American Pie is a movie that most teenagers will love and most parents will hate. As long as these films continue to bring in the big bucks at the box office, more and more of them will be made.