American Pie (film)

American Pie is a 1999 American teen sex comedy film 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 best friends (Jim, Kevin, Oz, Finch, and Stifler) who attend East Great Falls High. With the exception of Stifler (who has already lost his virginity), the guys make a pact to lose their virginity before their high school graduation. The title is borrowed from the song of the same name and refers to a scene in the film, 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."

In addition to the primary American Pie saga, there are 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. 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.

Plot
Five high school seniors from East Great Falls High School in West Michigan are good friends: Jim Levenstein, an awkward and sexually naïve nerd whose dad, Noah, offers him pornography and unwanted sexual advice; Chris "Oz" Ostreicher, on the school lacrosse team; Kevin Myers, the calm leader of the group seeking to lose his virginity to his girlfriend Vicky; Paul Finch, a mochaccino-drinking sophisticate and nerd; and Steve Stifler, a popular but a raucous jock who often throws wild parties when his mother is away, and is the only one of the five who has lost his virginity. In the morning following one of these parties, dorky classmate Chuck Sherman claims that he lost his virginity at said party. After hearing this, Kevin prompts Oz, Finch, and Jim to pledge to no longer be virgins by the time they graduate high school.

Vicky accuses Kevin of wanting her only for sex, and he has to repair their relationship before the senior prom night, now the target day the four plan to lose their virginity. Oz joins the school jazz choir to find a girlfriend, learns about sensitivity, and that it is about asking girls questions and listening to what they say. He soon wins the attention of Heather, a girl in the choir. Heather learns about Oz's reputation, breaks up with him, and then learns to trust him when he leaves the lacrosse championship game to perform a competition duet with her.

Jim pursues Nadia, an exchange student from the former Czechoslovakia. Oz tells Jim that third base feels like "warm apple pie" and when found by Noah having sex with a pie Noah is persuaded to keep it from Jim's mother. Stifler persuades Jim to set up a webcam in his room so that they can all watch Nadia changing clothes (after she came back from ballet class). Nadia discovers Jim's pornography collection and while half-naked sitting 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. With her, he experiences premature ejaculation twice. Nadia's sponsors see the video and send her back home, leaving Jim dateless for the prom.

Jim thinks band camp geek Michelle Flaherty is unaware of the cam incident so he 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; he spikes Finch's mochaccino with a laxative. Stifler plays to Finch's school restroom germaphobia to use the girls' restroom. Finch has diarrhea, and is humiliated by the crowd of students.

Vicky asks Sherman's conquest about his claim. Everyone learns it is false and as a result, Sherman wets himself, in front of everyone at the prom.

The boys plan to 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 grounds that they will drift apart when they go to college. Oz confesses the pact to Heather, and renounces it, saying that just them being together makes him a winner. They reconcile and have sex. Oz, honoring his newfound sensitivity, never divulges what they did.

Jim is still bored of Michelle's unexciting band camp stories, all of which start with, Michelle Flaherty "This one time, at band camp." He becomes interested, however, when her stories suddenly become sexual, declaring that "half of band camp is sex ed." Michelle then admits to Jim that she accepted Jim's offer to be his date because she saw the "Nadia Incident" and thought he was a "sure thing". Michelle quickly proves herself to be experienced, and is sexually aggressive in bed. When Jim wakes up afterwards, she is gone and he learns that he had a one-night stand with her, but he is okay with it.

Finch meets Stifler's mother in the basement recreation room where they have sex on the pool table. Stifler finds them on the pool table asleep and he faints. The morning after the prom, the boys eat breakfast at their favorite restaurant where they toast to the "next step".

From Slovakia, Nadia watches Jim's webcam; in the webcam, he is stripping. Jim is oblivious to his father walking in. Noah walks out of the room and starts dancing.

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
 * Tara Reid as Vicky Lathum
 * Mena Suvari as Heather Gardner
 * Seann William Scott as Steve Stifler
 * Alyson Hannigan as Michelle Flaherty
 * Eugene Levy as Noah Levenstein
 * Shannon Elizabeth as Nadia
 * Natasha Lyonne as Jessica
 * Chris Owen as Chuck Sherman
 * Jennifer Coolidge as Stifler's Mom
 * John Cho as John - 'Milf' guy
 * Justin Isfeld as Justin - 'Milf' guy
 * Molly Cheek as Mrs. Levenstein
 * Lawrence Pressman as Coach Marshall
 * Christina Milian as Band Member
 * Eric Lively as Albert
 * Eden Riegel as Sarah - Sophomore chick
 * Sasha Barrese as Courtney
 * Eli Marienthal as Matt Stifler
 * Clyde Kusatsu as English teacher
 * Tara Subkoff (uncredited) as College girl
 * Chris Weitz (uncredited) as Male voice in porn film
 * Gail Gale as Gboi

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.

Bill Murray was considered for the role of Noah Levenstein.

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 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. The "Central Chicks" and "Central" Lacrosse team that East Great Falls plays against is an amalgam of nearby Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School. The working title for the film had been "East Great Falls High".

Principal photography begun on July 21 and wrapped on September 11, 1998.

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).

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. The film took in a gross worldwide revenue of $235,483,004, $132,922,000 of which was from international tickets. In North America, it was the twentieth highest-grossing film of 1999. In Germany, it was the most successful theatrical release of 2000 before Mission: Impossible 2 and American Beauty.

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 response
The film received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, American Pie has an approval rating of 61% based on 126 reviews, with an average rating of 5.77/10. The critical consensus reads, "So embarrassing it's believable, American Pie succeeds in bringing back the teen movie genre." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 58 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A- on scale of A to F.

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." 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."

Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack peaked at number 50 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The following songs were included in the film but were not featured on the soundtrack:
 * 3 Doors Down - "Be Like That"
 * 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)"