2004 / 102 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

When I saw the words “From the producers of “Road Trip” and “Old School” attached to this film, well, let’s just say that I wasn’t filled with confidence. However, the sneak preview of “Starsky and Hutch” was sold out, and this was the only thing that really appealed to me at the time. So I figured “What the hell”? It couldn’t be any worse than “Road Trip”. Besides, “Old School” was a fun time and this one might provide more of the same. I was shocked, therefore, to find myself truly loving this little film. I wasn’t always laughing until my sides hurt, but I did have a big smile on my face for the length of the film and there were several moments that did wring huge, gut-busting laughs from me.

The plot of this film could fill a thimble and it’s basically “Road Trip” taken to an international length: a boy gets dumped by his girlfriend and spills his woes to his online buddy Mieke. Mieke responds by professing romantic feelings toward him, which creeps him out because he thinks that Mieke is Mike, a boy from Germany. It’s only after sending her an email that basically tells her to wank off that he discovers Mieke is actually a really hot German girl. It is at this point that he jets off to Europe, joining a pair of twin friends that are already there and going on a zany, madcap romp to find the woman of his dreams.

Unlike “50 First Dates”, which was cute and romantic, this one pays only lip service to the notions of romance and seems to have sex on its mind instead, which, I think lends itself better to the concept of comedy. Yes, the main character is in love, but the other characters seem to want to go to Europe due mainly to the promise of kinky, European sex. It’s less a romantic comedy than it is an “American Pie” sort of horny teenager movie. The thing, this film is wittier than any film with the words “American Pie” in the title has ever been. The characters are endearing and rather naturalistic, and more interesting than most of those found in the average teenage sex romp. The main character is a good-looking guy, yes, but he actually has some charm and sincerity that is lacking in most of the bland, teenage leading men. And his buddy (Jacob Pitts) has a Stiffler sort of role, but makes his character less bombastic and over the top and more laidback and, I daresay, realistic. I also liked Michelle Trachtenberg as the girl who is basically one of the guys (much to her chagrin) and Travis Wester as her goofy, nerdy brother. Each of them has certain skills and strengths that help them on their journey, which both includes and skewers nearly every European stereotype I’ve ever known. And there are some great cameos by people you may have actually heard of, as well. Vinnie Jones is great as an intense soccer hooligan, Rade Sherdebaga (I think that’s how you spell his name, anyway, he’s the Russian dude from “Snatch”) steals a scene as a Czech local, and Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) has a hilarious cameo as a woman named Madame Vandersexxx. And you’ll never believe who they got to lead a punk band in this movie, so I won’t ruin the surprise by telling you.

There are a lot of sex-related jokes in this movie and they all work fairly well without getting too down and dirty. Yes, you see a beach full of men completely nude (and the movie even has the, ahem, balls to show them in all their full frontal lack of glory) but the thing that’s most hilarious is the fact that they are all there looking for nude women and there are none to be found (they’ve all flocked to a less crowded beach instead and, don’t worry, guys, there is a nice shot of that beach as well, in all ITS full frontal majesty). Yes, you get to see a couple going at it in a confessional at the Vatican, but it’s not gratuitous T&A and it pays off in a rather hilarious sight gag. There are enough breasts in this film to satisfy the sort of person that’s coming to a movie by the producers of “Road Trip”, but there’s a level of intelligence and sincerity here that makes the whole thing rather tasteful and very, very clever. This is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long, long time, and easily one of the funniest. There’s a gag involving the apparent death of the pope that is sorta predictable and yet still had me busting a gut. Even the predictable jokes in this movie work, and that’s saying something.

Go for the breasts, go for the sly comedy, go for the fun jabs at European culture, or go for the sincere and refreshingly low key comic performances. But whatever you go for, you should definitely go. You’ll have a lot of laughs, you’ll enjoy yourself immensely, and you won’t even have to check your brain at the door.

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 20th, 2004 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.