Road
Trip
(2000)
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 Hour and 33 Minutes
Reviewer: Dale
Grade: D+Don't you hate those movies where they take the few funny scenes and put them in the trailer and the rest of the movie just pretty much sucks? Well, "Road Trip" is, unfortunately, one of those type of movies.
I was suckered in by the trailer. It looked like the sort of fun, grossout, hormone-smeared comedy that "American Pie" had provided so effectively. Good, ribald fun in the grand tradition of such films as "Animal House", "Bachelor Party" and, although I really didn't care for it much, "Porky's". But alas, mentioning those movies in the same breath as this one is giving "Road Trip" too much credit. There are jokes, and they are gross, but they aren't really all that funny. There is a fine art to the creation of a good grossout comedy. The Farrelly Brothers understand this. Their movies, from "Dumb and Dumber" to "There's Something About Mary" are perfect examples of grossout comedy done well and with great ingenuity and zest. "Road Trip" is an example of how not to make such a film.
Good grossout gags start a little gross and then build to an outrageous climax. Take the "hair-gel" scene from "Mary". It starts in recognizable territory (many of us have probably taken matters into our own hands) and then it gets a little more outrageous with every step until it is such a ridiculous set of circumstances that you cannot help but laugh. The jokes in "Road Trip" start out with promise but then just go on. They do not build, they just continue.
Also, it helps when you care about the characters. You were embarrassed for Ben Stiller in "Mary" because you liked the poor schmuck and you didn't want to see him fail. I didn't care about any of the people in this movie. Therefore, their trek meant nothing to me. A couple of the characters are rendered in humanitarian ways, and we like them, but they are just not given enough screen time.
Too much screen time is given to Tom Green, however. This was my first experience with Tom Green. I do not have MTV, and I do not find this to be a bad thing. Tom was simply not funny in this movie. In fact, I couldn't see why we were supposed to find him funny. Whenever he came onscreen, I found myself scratching my head and wondering what the deal was with this guy. How can this guy get a multi-picture deal? I am still wondering.
The only reason I liked this movie at all was because of the guy who played "E.L." He is a hardcore college partyhound and he is played memorably by the same guy who played Stiffler in "American Pie". I think anyone who has seen "American Pie" knows who I am talking about. Whenever he showed up on the screen, I smiled and knew that things were going to pull themselves slightly out of the cellar for a few minutes. He is perfect. I love this guy, even if he does play the same character in every movie, at least he plays it to perfection.
We need more movies with this guy in them.
But ultimately, the presence of "Stiffler" is not enough to make "Road Trip" a trip worth taking. Do yourself a favor and rent "There's Something About Mary" or "American Pie" instead.