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Press - 2004
A Jokey Quest for Eurosex, Riding a Wave of Alcohol
Now that bad taste has become officially institutionalized, the sometimes
funny but just as often dopey comedy Eurotrip" has all of the
anarchic charge of getting a tattoo at Wal-Mart. The movie is being touted
as the newest project from the producers of "Road Trip" and "Old School" ;
its inevitable sequel whether it ends up in theaters or goes straight to
a Web site will probably be sold as "from people who saw 'Road Trip' and
'Old School.' "
The film's willingness to embarrass every single one of its participants
is almost touching. It's like the new kid in school still wearing a John
Deere cap and last year's Diesels asking to be punked, so he can fit in.
"Eurotrip" plays pranks on itself, and when everybody's beneath contempt,
there's no more room left for bad taste at the bottom. Maybe that's the
new subversion.
The primary victim of the movie is Scotty (Scott Mechlowicz). At his high
school graduation, he's dumped by a girl who looks as though she just
stepped off the set of "Smallville," and her Noxema-fresh angel face adds
ground glass to her duplicity.
Worse, the e-mail correspondence that Scotty has had with his German
friend Mieke takes a very weird turn; based on his extremely limited
conversational German, Scotty figures out that Mieke has just come on to
him. Horrified, he blows Mieke off forever until his younger brother,
Bert (Nial Iskhakov), tells him that Mieke is a girl's name (Scotty thinks
it's the German version of Mike) and, as it follows, Mieke (Jessica Boehrs)
is a girl. And, yes, kids, she is hot. So the forgive me plot of
"Eurotrip" hinges on what the philosopher Daffy Duck once referred to as
"pronoun trouble."
As Scotty's friends the twins Jenny (Michelle Trachtenberg) and Jamie
(Travis Wester, who looks a few years older than Jenny) are headed to
Europe for a summer trip, he joins them so he can chase down Mieke and
straighten things out. Scotty's best friend, Cooper (Jacob Pitts), tags
along, in search of the kind of rampant sexual activity that he imagines
is found only in more sophisticated countries, or perhaps Super Bowl
half-time shows.
Scotty's intention is to get to Berlin to meet Mieke, but their tortuous
path is more like circumnavigating the globe in order to reach the German
capital. The movie is funny right away; the opening credit sequence is a
cartoon take on the airline safety-procedure placard. (Scotty's indirect
path to Berlin provides a fine visual bit, mapped out on a table.) And the
mildly xenophobic humor includes one of the few inventive mime insults
seen in a movie; "Eurotrip" may be stupid, but it's not dumb.
I'm not entirely sure the "Eurotrip" storyline qualifies as a plot; it's
more like a series of Post-Its with joke topics rendered in felt-tip pen
and underlined. The four principal cast members, who are reasonably
good-humored about the pranks they're subjected to, spend most of their
time staring into the camera with their heads slightly tilted; it's as if
they're watching their newly hatched careers roll downhill.
Since this is a teen comedy, almost every girl in the movie with fewer
than 10 lines to speak has to take her top off. The director Jeff Schaffer
is gentleman enough to make sure that the camera remains still and in
focus, so that all of the eventual buyers of the DVD will be able to skip
right to the nudity with a minimum of fuss. (This will make it much easier
to see the cheesy computer effects that make major world capitals look
like an Eastern European backlot.) Mr. Schaffer also wrote the script,
along with Alec Berg and David Mandel; the team was credited with the "Cat
in the Hat" screenplay, and it's not much of a compliment to say
"Eurotrip" is better, since no English-speaking person could do worse than
"Hat."
In a nod to equality, there's male nudity as well, and even the suburban
satyr Cooper gets his comeuppance. Mr. Pitts makes him a lazy, wicked
hustler who plows through a speech about European debauchery that's close
to Bill Murray's summation of the American psyche the lovable mutt
speech.
"Eurotrip" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult
guardian). It has nudity, alcohol consumption, comic
violence, alcohol consumption, strong language, alcohol consumption,
sexuality and alcohol consumption.
EUROTRIP
Directed by Jeff Schaffer; written by Alec Berg, David Mandel and Mr.
Schaffer; director of photography, David Eggby; edited by Roger Bondelli;
music by James L. Venable; production designer, Allan Starski; produced by
Daniel Goldberg, Jackie Marcus, Mr. Berg and Mr. Mandel; released by
Dreamworks Pictures. Running time: 92 minutes. This film is rated R.
WITH: Scott Mechlowicz (Scott Thomas), Michelle Trachtenberg (Jenny),
Jacob Pitts (Cooper Harris), Travis Wester (Jamie), Jessica Boehrs (Mieke),
Nial Iskhakov (Bert), Lucy Lawless (Madame Vandersexxx), Vinnie Jones (Mad
Maynard) and Fred Armisen (Creepy Italian Guy).
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