American Pie Information

American Pie is a 1999 teen sex comedy film about high school written by Adam Herz and directed by brothers Paul and Chris Weitz, in their directorial film debut. It is the first film in the American Pie theatrical series. The film was a box-office hit and spawned three direct sequels: American Pie 2 (2001), American Wedding (2003), and American Reunion (2012). The film concentrates on five boys (Jim, Stifler, Oz, Kevin, and Finch) who attend East Great Falls High. With the exception of Stifler, the friends make a pact to lose their virginity before their high school graduation. The title is borrowed from the folk song of the same name and refers to a scene in the film, in which the lead character is caught masturbating with a pie after being told that third base feels like "warm apple pie". It's also been stated by writer Adam Herz that the title also refers to the quest of losing your virginity in high school, which is as "American as apple pie."

The film's theme song is Laid by James, which is also the theme for the entire franchise.

In addition to the primary American Pie saga, there are currently four direct-to-DVD spin-off films bearing the title American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005), The Naked Mile (2006), Beta House (2007) and The Book of Love (2009).

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.

Plot

Four good friends from western Michigan, high school seniors, Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas), a confident student with a girlfriend named Vicky (Tara Reid); Chris "Oz" Ostreicher (Chris Klein), a member of the high school lacrosse team; Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs), an awkward and sexually naïve character whose dad (Eugene Levy) attempts to offer sexual advice including purchasing and giving him pornography; and Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), a cappuccino-drinking sophisticate, make a pact, at Kevin's initiation, to lose their virginity before their high school graduation after a dorky classmate, Chuck Sherman (Chris Owen), claims to have done so at a party hosted by Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott), an ignorant and obnoxious lacrosse player who happens to be a close friend to the main four boys.

Vicky later accuses Kevin of being with her only for sex, and he must try and repair his relationship with her before the upcoming prom night, when the four plan to lose their virginity. He eventually succeeds. Oz, meanwhile, joins the jazz choir in an effort to lose his reputation as an insensitive jock and finds a girlfriend there. He soon wins the attention of Heather (Mena Suvari), a girl in the choir. However, he runs into problems when Heather comes to learn about Oz's reputation and subsequently breaks up with him, although he later manages to regain some of her trust, and later most of it when he leaves the lacrosse championship to perform a duet with her in a choir competition. Jim, meanwhile, attempts to pursue Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), an exchange student from Czechoslovakia who asks Jim for help to study for an upcoming test. Stifler persuades him to set up a webcam in his room so that they can all watch it together. The plan suffers a hiccup, though, when Nadia discovers Jim's pornography collection and sits half-naked on his bed to read and masturbate to it. Jim is persuaded to return to his room, where he joins Nadia, unaware that he accidentally sent the webcam link to everyone on the school list. Nadia's exchange family sees the video and sends her back home, now leaving Jim completely dateless for prom, and his likeliness of losing his virginity before high school is over. In sheer desperation, Jim asks band camp geek Michelle Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan) to the senior prom as she is apparently the only girl at his school who did not see what happened. Finch, meanwhile, pays Vicky's friend, Jessica (Natasha Lyonne), $200 to spread rumors around the school of his sexual prowess, hoping that it will increase his chances of success. Unfortunately, he runs into trouble when Stifler, angry that a girl turned him down for the prom because she was waiting for Finch to ask her, puts a laxative into Finch's mochaccino. Finch, being paranoid about the lack of cleanliness in the school restrooms, and unable to go home to use the toilet as he usually does, is tricked by Stifler into using the girls' restroom. Afterward, he emerges before many other fellow students, humiliated and is left dateless.

At the prom, everything seems hopeless for the four boys until Vicky asks the girl that Chuck Sherman claimed to have bedded about her "first time." She proclaims to everyone at the prom that she and Sherman did not have sex at Stifler's party, leaving Sherman embarrassed and making him wet himself. The revelation takes the pressure off of Jim, Kevin, Oz and Finch, and they head to the post-prom party with new hope. At the after-party at Stifler's house, all four boys fulfill their pledge. Kevin and Vicky have sex in an upstairs bedroom. Vicky breaks up with Kevin afterwards on the grounds that they will drift apart when they go to college, with him attending the University of Michigan and her at Cornell University; he tries to persuade her otherwise but quickly realizes that the distance between the two schools will be too much of a burden. Oz confesses the pact to Heather, and renounces it, saying that just by them being together makes him a winner. They reconcile and wind up having sexual intercourse together on the dock. Oz, honoring his newfound sensitivity, never confesses to what they did. Jim and Michelle have sex after he finds out that she is actually not as naïve as she let on and that she saw the "Nadia Incident" after all. She accepted his offer to be his date because of it, knowing he was a "sure thing," but she makes him wear two condoms to combat his earlier "problem" with Nadia. Jim is surprised to discover that Michelle behaves unexpectedly aggressively in bed. In the morning he wakes up to find her gone and realizes that she had used him for a one-night stand, which Jim thinks is "cool." Dateless, Finch strays downstairs to the basement recreation room where he meets Stifler's Mom (Jennifer Coolidge). She is aroused by his precociousness, and they have sex on the pool table. In the morning, Stifler enters the room, realizes that his mom has had sex with Finch and faints, unable to believe that his mom and "Shit-break" are together. The morning after the prom Jim, Kevin, Oz, and Finch eat breakfast at their favorite restaurant - with the fitting nostalgic name, "Dog Years" - where they toast to "the next step." The film ends with Nadia watching Jim stripping on his webcam. His dad walks in but walks out and starts dancing like Jim.

Cast

• Jason Biggs as James "Jim" Levenstein
• Chris Klein as Chris "Oz" Ostreicher
• Thomas Ian Nicholas as Kevin Myers
• Eddie Kaye Thomas as Paul Finch
• Alyson Hannigan as Michelle Flaherty
• Natasha Lyonne as Jessica
• Tara Reid as Victoria "Vicky" Lathum
• Seann William Scott as Steve Stifler
• Mena Suvari as Heather
• Shannon Elizabeth as Nadia
• Eugene Levy as Jim's Dad
• Molly Cheek as Jim's Mom
• Eli Marienthal as Stifler's younger brother
• Chris Owen as Chuck "Sherminator" Sherman
• Jennifer Coolidge as Stifler's Mom
• John Cho as John
• Justin Isfeld as Justin
• Eric Lively as Albert
• Sasha Barrese as Courtney
• James DeBello as Enthusiastic guy
• Lawrence Pressman as Coach Marshall
• Clyde Kusatsu as English teacher
• Tara Subkoff (uncredited) as College girl
• Chris Weitz (uncredited) as Male voice in porn film
• Tyler Love as the milky bar kid

Cameos

• Blink-182 make a cameo appearance as the band watching Jim and Nadia during their webcast though drummer Travis 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.
• Christina Milian appears as one of the band geeks.
• 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.

Awards and nominations

Wins

• 2000 - Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favourite Supporting Comedy Actor (Eugene Levy)
• 2000 - Bogey Awards: Bogey Awards in Platinum (Award given to movies which are viewed by five million people in the first 50 days after their release)
• 2000 - Casting Society of America: Artios Award for Best Casting for Feature Film
• 2000 - Csapnivalo Award: Golden Slate Award for Best Teen Movie
• 2000 - Young Hollywood Awards for Best Ensemble Cast, Best Soundtrack, Breakthrough Female Performance (Mena Suvari)
• 2000 - Golden Screen for Golden Screen Award and Golden Screen with 1 Star

Nominations

• 2000 - American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Eugene Levy)
• 2000 - Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favourite Actor (Jason Biggs) and Favourite Actress (Mena Suvari)
• 2000 - CFCA Award for Best Promising Actor (Chris Klein)
• 2000 - MTV Movie Awards for Best Comedic Performance (Jason Biggs), Best Movie, Breakthrough Female Performance (Shannon Elizabeth), Breakthrough Male Performance (Jason Biggs)
• 2000 - Teen Choice Awards for Choice Actor (Jason Biggs), Choice Breakout Performance (Chris Klein), Choice Comedy, Choice Liar (Chris Klein), Choice Sleazebag (Seann William Scott)

Location

Much of the film is based on the writer's days at East Grand Rapids High School in Michigan. In the film, the town is called "East Great Falls", and the high school sports the same school colors "? blue and yellow "? 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. The "Central Chicks" and "Central" Lacrosse team that East Great Falls plays against is an amalgam of nearby Forest Hills Central High School and Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School.

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).

Soundtrack

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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"
• Blink-182 - Going Away To College
• 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"
• Fatboy Slim - "The Rockafeller Skank"
• Libra Presents Taylor - "Anomaly (Calling Your Name)"
• Etta James - "At Last"
• James - "Laid"
• 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)"

Reception

Box office

The film took in a gross worldwide revenue of $235,483,004, $132,922,000 of which was from international tickets.

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

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Based on 122 reviews Rotten Tomatoes gives American Pie a score of 61 percent considered "Fresh". and a score of 58 ("mixed or average reviews") from Metacritic based on reviews from 30 critics. The more negative reviews include Stephen Holden of The New York Times felt American Pie was "one of the shallowest and the most prurient teen films." Robert Horton 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." Jim Sullivan of The Boston Globe wrote that American Pie is a "gross and tasteless high school romp with sentimental mush." 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."