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February 2004

By Wilson Morales
Eurotrip
Distributor: Dreamworks SKG
Directed by: Jeff Schaffer
Executive Producer: Alec Berg, Daniel Goldberg, David Mandel, Jackie Marcus
Screenplay: Alec Berg & David Mandel & Jeff Schaffer
Cinematography: David Eggby
Cast: Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts, Michelle Trachtenberg, Travis Wester, Jessica Boehrs
     

Eurotrip is lewd, obnoxious, criminally offensive, and without a doubt, the funniest film of the year so far. I tip my hat to Dreamworks for this one. They go all the way here, crossing every line of decency, and it pays off like winning Powerball. The film is absolutely hilarious. The characters are great and the situations they run into will have people rolling in the aisles. The production team that made Old School and Road Trip outdo themselves in Eurotrip. I would go so far as to say this movie is funnier than both of those films combined.

Scott Thomas (Scott Mechlowicz) has just been dumped by his girlfriend on graduation day. Turns out she's been fooling around with everyone but him. The way he finds out is great. Look for a cameo from a major film star. That scene alone is worth the price of admission. Back to the story, Scott has been e-mailing a German student for years. Her name is Mika (Jessica Bohrs). Scott thinks that Mika is a guy and tells her off when she professes her love for him. Low and behold, his little brother figures out the truth. Mika is not only a girl, but a smoking hot German babe. So Scott heads off to Europe with his buddy Cooper (Jacob Pitts) to find Mika. They meet up with two friends, twin siblings Jamie (Travis Wester) and Jennie (Michelle Trachtenberg), who are on their post graduation trip. Their European adventure is easily the funniest one since The Griswald's took that classic European vacation.

The crew bumps into a host of oddball characters heading to Germany. I'm not revealing anything, but I have to worship one scene in particular. They're stuck in line waiting to get into the Louvre. That's the big French museum where the Mona Lisa is if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Scott makes fun of a street performer doing the robot and they engage in one of the funniest scenes ever committed to film. I laughed until I choked. Alec Mandel and David Berg wrote the screenplay. They should be immortalized in stone for writing that scene. Trust me, when you get what they're doing, you'll fall out of your chair laughing. Most comedies never have a laugh that big and Eurotrip has quite a few of them.

There is a lot of nudity in the film. Horny teenage boys will get their fill of T & A, but at a price. Eurotrip, and this might be worth researching, has more male frontal nudity than most gay porn films. It's pretty sick and twisted, but knockdown funny. I still remember the cries of laughter turning to horror from the guy sitting behind me in the theater. It was like clockwork, just as he opened his mouth about a scantily clad babe; the scene follows up with what has to be the biggest collection of naked ugly dudes ever put on film. The feminists will definitely get the last laughs in this movie.

I've got to write about how awesomely un-PC the movie is. They demolish barriers of good taste, but never stoop to gross out humor. They actually succeed in being really raunchy without resorting to fart jokes. That's the greatest thing about the film. It's not mean, racist, sexist, or anything that truly offensive. It's just no holds barred when it comes to the humor. This is like American Pie without Jim sticking his wang in the dessert. The set-up is good enough to be funny.

I loved this movie. I wanted to laugh and the film delivered. You can't walk into a film like this with any pretenses about what you're seeing. I admire the filmmakers for pushing the envelope without resorting to stupid gimmicks. The characters are great and their adventures are solidly entertaining. Eurotrip is a welcome addition to the elite cadre of actually funny teenage films. Not to be missed if you want a good laugh or to see a couple getting it on in the Vatican.