Available at Amazon.com
Director:
Joe Nussbaum
Starring:
John White ………. Erik Stifler
Jessy Schram ………. Tracy
Steve Talley ………. Dwight Stifler
Christopher McDonald ………. Mr. Stifler
Ross Thomas ………. Ryan Grimm
Jake Siegel ………. Mike “Cooze” Coozeman
Eugene Levy ………. Mr. Levenstein
Jordan Prentice ………. Rock
Candace Kroslak ………. Brandy
Mika Winkler ………. Vicki
Daniel Petronijevic ………. Bull
The Movie
Sometimes you just have to say enough is enough. Sequels rarely live up to the quality of the original films. However, there is one rule that always must be followed if you want a sequel to succeed. You have to have the original cast come back and recreate the chemistry they had in the first film. If you don’t have the original cast in a sequel, it usually ends very badly. But a second sequel after the original cast has long gone on to other things is heading for a major disaster.
The fifth movie in the American Pie series is called American Pie Presents The Naked Mile. This one centers on the oversexed Stifler family. Erik Stifler (John White) finds out that he may be the first Stifler to ever graduate high school as a virgin. From then on, his mission is simple..have sex before graduation. Of course, Jim’s dad, Mr. Levenstein (Eugene Levy) is there to give him some advice on this subject. Erik’s girlfriend, Tracy (Jessy Schram), is not ready to have sex yet, so she gives Erik a “free pass” weekend by mistake. That means he can do whatever he wants with whoever he wants. Erik decides to go with his friends and cousin, Dwight (Steve Talley), to the infamous college tradition of “The Naked Mile Race”. That’s where everyone runs naked, of course.
The main problem with this movie is that it carries the American Pie name. The fact is the American Pie series should have ended with the third movie, American Wedding. That was the last time the entire gang from the original movie got together and made us laugh. Since then they have made American Pie Presents Band Camp, which was not needed at all. It’s was fairly funny, but nothing to go out of the way to see. The main problem with that film was that none of the original cast, except for Eugene Levy was involved. The original cast had made a name for themselves in the first three films and they knew it was time to move on. Unfortunately, the studios didn’t think so.
The plot of this film is basically the same as the other films in the series. They attempt to “shock” us with gross-out humor and gags. While I do admit that the opening scene of the movie is quite funny and pretty shocking, the rest of the movie doesn’t really follow up on that. You’ve seen all of this stuff before in the previous movies. In addition, besides “The Naked Mile” scene, which is a fairly small scene, there is not much nudity. For a movie being “unrated”, there not much nakedness.
I do have to give credit to the cast of this movie, though. They are all pretty unknown, but they fit right in. They could have played in the first American Pie and be better off because of it. But now they’re just going to be compared to the original cast and that usually isn’t a fair fight. Eugene Levy is only in the movie for 10 or 15 minutes. He’s basically there to carry the flame of the original cast. Other than that, having the main “enemies” in this movie be a “little person fraternity” is really not that funny.
In the end, you have a decent “teenage, gross-out humor, sex comedy” film. Unfortunately, this film was made to cash in on the success of the first three American Pie films. That is just not going to work without any of the original cast in it. This new cast does a good job with what they have, so you can’t blame them. But no matter how hard you try, you can never get a better piece of pie than that first slice that comes straight from the oven.
The Video:
The video is given in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen color. Pretty standard quality here. No problems at all. It certainly won’t impress you, though.
The Audio:
The audio included is available in either English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, or Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound. There are subtitles available in English SDH, French, and Spanish. No problems here either. The audio won’t impress you either.
The Extras:
Audio Commentary –
This lasts the whole feature and it includes Jon Nussbaum (Director), Erik Lindsay (Writer), and cast members, Steve Talley, Jake Siegel, John White, and Ross Thomas. It’s definitely great to hear these guys talk about the film. You’ll probably want to watching to this after watching the movie for the first time.
“Life on the Naked Mile” Featurette –
This is your “behind-the-scenes/making-of” featurette. That’s all you really need to know. You should know what this is all about.
“The Yoga Guide to Getting Girls” Featurette –
Jessy Schram, who plays Tracy, takes us to a yoga class. She tells us how we can pick up girls there by using some guy who I don’t know. He does all of these wrong things and she tells us to not do that. Do this stuff instead. It’s fairly amusing.
“The Bare Essentials” Featurette –
This is pretty nasty. It says it’s about the cast preparing to run naked and it is. However, it’s basically just Jordan Prentice and Steve Talley getting their butts waxed. They were hairy, you see. And that’s all I will say about this.
“Little People, Big Stunts” Featurette –
This is all about the “little people” used in the movie. We see all of them and the stunts they did. Why they were cast and all of that as well. If you like little people, this is the featurette for you!
Deleted Scenes –
Your standard stuff here. There is some funny stuff here, but nothing to go seek out.
Outtakes –
Again, the usual stuff here. It’s not really “laugh-out-loud” funny, though.
This piece of pie is a little stale. It would have been better off without the American Pie name. Any fan of the series will probably like this film, but it doesn’t add anything new to the series. It’s a sequel of a sequel of a sequel of a sequel. That should tell you enough is enough, especially since the original cast is long gone. Still, it can be a fairly funny rental if you are bored. But I can’t recommend a purchase for anyone, even fans of the American Pie series. You’ve seen it all before.
