Four friends embark on a trip from Ithaca to
Austin to retrieve a mistakenly mailed sex tape. COMEDY
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Road Trip (2000)Directed by Todd Phillips
Written by Todd Phillips and Scot Armstrong Starring Breckin Meyer, Seann William Scott, Amy Smart, Tom Green, Paul Costanzo, DJ Qualls, Rachel Blanchard, Fred Ward, Anthony Rapp |
I will give Road Trip this. It is the only movie of his I've seen thus far where Tom Green isn't unbearable. His weirdo brand of shock comedy actually works for this boner comedy. My biggest critique is really the same critique I have with every comedy that doesn't hold up. It could've been funnier. It's got its moments, but overall it just doesn't try that hard. It's especially hard to believe that Todd Phillips would one day be an Oscar-nominated filmmaker thanks to Joker. What really saves this film are the characters and the enjoyable story. It may not be that funny, but it's a decent watch regardless.
Josh (Meyer) is a decent dude who has been in a long-distance relationship pretty much his whole life. One night, he caves to pressure and sleeps with Beth (Smart), a smart, cute girl he sees a potential future with. Also, she's kinky and lets him film it. Unfortunately, in a mix-up, that tape gets mailed to Josh's girlfriend in Austin, TX. Now, Josh has three days to get to Austin from Ithaca, NY to get that tape, and he's accompanied by his friends E.L. (Scott basically just doing Stifler again), Rubin (Costanzo), a philosopher with purpose, and Kyle (Qualls), a nerd who has a car. The entire story is told by Barry (Green), a bona fide weirdo who is entertaining a university your with the exploits of his friends. All the characters are likable, and in the end, the stakes didn't even matter because a) the tape had gotten recorded over and b) they broke up anyway. Road Trip, like every sex comedy of the early 2000's, is still a fun watch for parties or movie night with your buddies. It's no American Pie, but it's really trying to be. As I said, it's got its moments, like when they lie their way into a black fraternity or E.L. learns about the male g-spot. So it's not terrible. |