American Pie (film)

American Pie
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paul Weitz
Written by	Adam Herz
Produced by	Warren Zide Craig Perry Chris Moore Chris Weitz
Starring	Jason Biggs Chris Klein Natasha Lyonne Thomas Ian Nicholas Seann William Scott Tara Reid Mena Suvari Eugene Levy
Cinematography	Richard Crudo
Edited by	Priscilla Nedd-Friendly
Music by	David Lawrence
Production companies	Universal Pictures[1] Summit Entertainment[1] Newmarket Capital Group[1] Zide/Perry Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures (English-speaking territories) Summit Entertainment (International)[2]
Release date	July 9, 1999 (1999-07-09)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$11 million[3]
Box office	$235.5 million[3]

American Pie is a 1999 American sex comedy and coming of age film directed and co-produced by Paul Weitz (in his directorial debut) and written by Adam Herz. It is the first film in the American Pie theatrical series and stars an ensemble cast that includes Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Alyson Hannigan, Natasha Lyonne, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Seann William Scott and Eugene Levy. The plot centers on five classmates (Jim, Kevin, Oz, Finch, and Stifler) who attend East Great Falls High. With the exception of Stifler (who has already lost his virginity), the youths make a pact to lose their virginity before their high school graduation.

The title refers to a scene in which the protagonist is caught masturbating with a pie after being told that third base feels like "warm apple pie". Writer Adam Herz has stated that the title also refers to the quest of losing one's virginity in high school, which is as "American as apple pie."

The film was a box-office hit and spawned three direct sequels: American Pie 2 (2001), American Wedding (2003), and American Reunion (2012). In addition to the primary American Pie saga, there are five direct-to-DVD spin-off films bearing the title American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005), The Naked Mile (2006), Beta House (2007), The Book of Love (2009) and Girls' Rules (2020).

In response to the success of American Reunion, a fifth theatrical film, under the working title American Pie 5 was announced on August 4, 2012.^[4] In August 2017, Seann William Scott said in an interview that the fourth film probably had not made enough at the domestic box office to warrant another film.^[5]

Plot[]

Five high school seniors and friends from fictional East Great Falls, Michigan: Jim Levenstein, an awkward and sexually naïve nerd whose dad offers him pornography and awkward sexual advice; Chris "Oz" Ostreicher, overconfident star of the lacrosse team; Kevin Meyers, the calm leader of the group seeking to lose his virginity to his girlfriend Vicky; Paul Finch, a mochaccino-drinking sophisticate; and Steven Stifler, a popular but raucous jock who often throws wild parties and is the only one of the five who is not a virgin. When dorky classmate Sherman claims that he lost his virginity at a party hosted by Stifler, Kevin prompts Oz, Finch, and Jim to join him in pledging that they will no longer be virgins by their high school graduation.

Vicky accuses Kevin of wanting her only for sex and he has to repair their relationship before the senior prom, now the target day the four plan to lose their virginity. Kevin discovers an old book in the library that has been compiled by students sharing sexual tips; he shares the information with his friends and gives Vicky cunnilingus after studying tips in the book. Oz joins the school choir to find a girlfriend and learn about sensitivity. He soon gains the attention of choir girl Heather, who learns about Oz's reputation and breaks up with him. Jim pursues Nadia, a foreign exchange student from Czechoslovakia.

When Oz tells Jim that third base feels like "warm apple pie", his dad discovers him having sex with a freshly baked pie in the kitchen. At school, Nadia asks Jim to help her study, and Stifler persuades Jim to set up a webcam in his room so that they can all watch Nadia changing clothes after coming over to study following her ballet class. Nadia discovers Jim's pornography collection and while sitting half-naked on his bed, masturbates to it. Jim is persuaded to return to his room, where he joins Nadia, unaware that he has sent the webcam link to everyone on the school list. He fails to cover the webcam and he experiences premature ejaculation — twice. Nadia's sponsors see the video and send her back home, leaving Jim dateless for the prom and the laughing stock of the school.

Jim, believing school band geek Michelle is unaware of the webcam incident, asks her to the prom. Finch pays Vicky's friend, Jessica, $200 to spread the rumor of his sexual prowess, hoping that it will increase his chances of success. Stifler is turned down by a girl because she wants Finch to ask her, so he spikes Finch's mochaccino with a laxative. Stifler plays to Finch's school restroom germaphobia and has loud diarrhea in the girl's bathroom. He is humiliated by Stifler and a crowd of students. Oz makes the decision to leave his lacrosse championship game to join Heather for a duet performance and the two reconcile.

At prom, Sherman's virginity conquest is revealed to be a lie and he urinates on himself in front of everyone in attendance. Jim becomes annoyed by Kevin's obsession to have them fulfill their pledge. At Stifler's post-prom party, Kevin and Vicky have sex in an upstairs bedroom. Vicky breaks up with Kevin afterwards on the belief that they will drift apart when they go to college. Oz confesses the pact to Heather and renounces it. They share a romantic night together by the lake. Jim learns that Michelle accepted his offer because she saw the "Nadia incident" and thought he was a "sure thing". Michelle then has aggressive sex with Jim. Finch meets and seduces Stifler's mom and they have sex on the pool table. Stifler later walks in on them and faints. The morning after the prom, the group discuss their successful pledge while eating at their favorite restaurant. Honoring his newfound sensitivity, Oz does not divulge to his friends whether or not he and Heather had sex. The friends then toast to the "next step".

Later, Nadia watches Jim stripping via webcam. Jim is oblivious to his father walking in, who then walks out of the room and starts dancing.

Cast[]

Cameos

• Blink-182 make a cameo appearance as the band watching Jim and Nadia during their webcast, though drummer Travis Barker is incorrectly credited as former Blink-182 drummer "Scott Raynor". Also, when their song "Mutt" is credited, Barker's name is misspelled as "Travis Barkor". The parts were given when Tom DeLonge's acting agent reported the film needed a band.
• Casey Affleck as Tom Myers, Kevin's older brother.
• Stacy Fuson, Playmate of the Month for February 1999, appears in the crowd laughing at Finch when he exits the girls' restroom.

Production[]

Northwest view of the Los Cerritos house.

Much of the film is based on the writer's days at East Grand Rapids High School in Michigan.^[6][7] In the film, the town is called "East Great Falls", and the high school bears the same school colors — blue and gold — along with a similar mascot — the Trailblazers instead of the Pioneers. The restaurant hangout, "Dog Years", is based on Yesterdog, a popular hot dog restaurant in the nearby Eastown neighborhood of Grand Rapids.^[8] The "Central Chicks" and "Central" Lacrosse team that East Great Falls plays against is an amalgam of nearby Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School.^[9] The working title for the film had been "East Grand Rapids".^[10]

Adam Herz wrote the screenplay, tentatively titled Untitled Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10 Million That Most Readers Will Probably Hate But I Think You Will Love, in six weeks using Porky's and Bachelor Party as inspiration. Principal photography on the film, now titled Great Falls, begun on July 21 and wrapped on September 11, 1998. The film originally received an NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America until edits were made to secure an R rating.^[11] During the casting of the film, Bill Murray was considered for the role of Noah Levenstein, Jim's dad.^[12] When Eugene Levy was cast, he insisted on being allowed to improvise his lines, as he disliked how his character was written in the script. In the final film, most of his lines were improvised.^[13]

The film was actually shot in Southern California, most notably in Long Beach using Long Beach Unified School District area high schools. Millikan High School, whose school colors are blue and gold, was used for exterior shots, and Long Beach Polytechnic High School was used for interior shots. Located in Los Cerritos, Long Beach, California, both schools are within five miles of the Virginia Country Club and Los Cerritos Neighborhood (where Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Donnie Darko were filmed).^[14]

Reception[]

Box office[]

Despite insiders claiming it to be a potential sleeper hit, Universal Pictures sold off the foreign rights in an attempt to recoup its budget. American Pie was sold successfully to foreign distributors at the Cannes International Film Festival.^[15] The film grossed $235,483,004 worldwide,^[3][16] $132,922,000 of which was from international tickets. In the United States and Canada, it grossed $102,561,004 and was the twentieth highest-grossing film of 1999. In Germany, distributed by Constantin Films, it was the most successful theatrical release of 2000 with a gross of $33.5 million.^[17][18]

In home video rentals, the film has grossed $109,577,352 worldwide, with $56,408,552 of that coming from sales in the US.^[19]

Critical response[]

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, American Pie has an approval rating of 61% based on 129 reviews, with an average rating of 5.80/10. The critical consensus reads, "So embarrassing it's believable, American Pie succeeds in bringing back the teen movie genre."^[1] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 58 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[20] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A- on scale of A to F.^[21]

The more negative reviews include Stephen Holden of The New York Times who felt American Pie was "one of the shallowest and the most prurient teen films."^[22] Ernest Hardy of Film.com wrote that American Pie "had a few amusing bits, however the audience should strongly note that the movie is really awful, and that it was not worthy of guilty pleasure status."^[23] Jim Sullivan of The Boston Globe wrote that American Pie is a "gross and tasteless high school romp with sentimental mush."^[24] Roger Ebert was more supportive, awarding it three out of four stars. He noted that "[i]t is not inspired, but it's cheerful and hard-working and sometimes funny, and—here's the important thing—it's not mean. Its characters are sort of sweet and lovable."^[25]

Accolades[]

Soundtrack[]

The film's soundtrack peaked at number 50 on the Billboard 200 chart.^[28]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[29]

The following songs were included in the film but were not featured on the soundtrack:

• Sex-o-rama Band – "Love Muscle"
• The Ventures – "Walk Don't Run"
• Barenaked Ladies – "One Week"
• The Brian Jonestown Massacre – "Going To Hell"
• Third Eye Blind – "Semi-Charmed Life"
• Oleander – "I Walk Alone"
• Hole – "Celebrity Skin"
• Everclear – "Everything to Everyone"
• Harvey Danger – "Flagpole Sitta"
• Duke Daniels – "Following a Star"
• Simon & Garfunkel – "Mrs. Robinson"
• Libra Presents Taylor – "Anomaly - Calling Your Name (Granny's Epicure Mix)"
• Etta James – "At Last"
• Loni Rose – "I Never thought you would come"
• Norah Jones – "The Long Day is Over"
• Marvin Gaye – "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
• Maria Muldaur – "Midnight at the Oasis"
• Simple Minds – "Don't You (Forget About Me)"

See also[]

• Superbad, a 2007 film with a similar premise.
• List of films featuring surveillance

References[]

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: American Pie

• Official website
• American Pie at IMDb
• American Pie at the TCM Movie Database
• American Pie at AllMovie
• American Pie at Box Office Mojo