DVD REVIEW: EUROTRIP (UNRATED)

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STUDIO: Universal
MSRP: $26.98 RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 93 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Commentary track
• Unrated deleted scenes
• Nude beach exposed featurette

The
“teen comedy” genre was personified in the 80s
by John Cusack and
Anthony Michael Hall, while the 90s took a regrettable
tumble into Freddy Prinze Jr. and Matt Lillard territory.
American Pie looked to propel
Jason Biggs into the pants previously worn by
the likes of Patrick Dempsey, but for the most
part the reins of teen comedies in the new century
are up for grabs. So far.

"Look, buddy, I don’t care what movie website
you write for. Stop following me or I’ll have
my bodyguards negate your manhood using various
demolitions equipment."

The
Flick

As
Eurotrip begins, Scotty (Brad
Pitt gene-splice experiment Scott Mechlowicz)
is simultaneously graduating from high school
and getting dumped by his girlfriend Fiona (the
unutterably magnificent Kristin Kreuk).
According to the annoying punk-pop song performed
by Matt Damon (!!) at the graduation party (and,
in fact, all throughout the film), Fiona has
been sleeping around, a reality the clueless
Scotty is devastated to learn. Then to top
off a bad day, in a drunken stupor he alienates
a German email correspondent who he’d been mistaking
for a man.

To
make amends via ludicrous solution, Scotty vows
to meet this singularly sexy penpal in person by traveling to Germany
and tracking her down like some transatlantic
stalker-in-training. So he and his obnoxious
sex-crazed chum Cooper (Jacob Pitts, who = Christian
Slater ÷ Leif Garrett x David Spade) grab a
courier flight to the UK, where they booze-fuel with some
“soccer hooligans” and end up on a double-decker
to France.

Suddenly I’m horny and… quite thirsty.

"Hello? Who? Yeah, yeah, I know who you
are, the guy from Just Shoot Me,
right. What? You… you want your hairstyle
back? You mean… people really do this?"

I
have to admit I occasionally appreciate this
type of flick (I enjoyed Van Wilder unapologetically),
and although it certainly doesn’t bear any resemblance
to accomplished filmmaking, Eurotrip
is surprisingly competent for a libidinous
teen farce cobbled together by guys in their
30s (director Jeff Schaffer and his co-writers
Alec Berg and David Mandel, Seinfeld
alumni all). The premise and speedy gags that
whip the flick forward have a crude outrageousness,
but there are also a few inventive ideas like
the animated opening credits and the “table
map” that tracks the gang’s progress.

The
kids are all likeable (and appropriately dense
for this generation — before their flight to
London, Cooper assures his buddy that “Europe
is the size of the Eastwood Mall, we can walk
to Berlin from there,” and Scotty later admits
he once watched a gay porno but didn’t realize
it until halfway through when the chicks hadn’t
shown up yet) and have notable comic timing.
I couldn’t help but be amused by some of the
preposterous situations presented, like a randy
train passenger, a mime showdown and a sacrilegious
visit to the Pope’s closet — it’s obvious the
movie strives to offend and entertain equally,
and often succeeds at both. And it probably
won’t spoil anything to tell you that everyone
eventually gets laid. There’s a welcome amount
of quality bared breasts, and although Trachtenberg’s
pert lungs remain concealed throughout the running
time, they still receive an admirable amount
of attention.

Though it had vastly improved from a graphics standpoint, characters like Chillin’ Chad and Silverdome Cecil made it obvious the Mortal Kombat series was running out of steam.

Eurotrip is
about as far as you can get from groundbreaking
cinema, but for a distasteful laugh-inducing
cultural sampler filled with teen drinking,
pouty lips and ample
nudity (including an unwarranted quantity of
dangling Johnsons), it gets the job done.

7.3
out of 10

"Guy
Ritchie, wheeere aaaaare yooouuuuu!!!"

The
Look

An
anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) transfer that
could perhaps be just a bit more detailed, but
overall is a lot more respectable than the film’s
humor level. Skintones appear nice, which is
good considering the amount of skin on display.

Note
that there are two other version of the movie
available, fullscreen editions in R-rated and
unrated varieties. Not sure why you’d want
those.

8.7
out of 10

The
Noise

A
Dolby 5.1 audio track seems typical for a comedy,
meaning most of the action hits you from the
front. Music gets the most attention (since
a lot of it is licensed) and sounds best, with
the downside being the grating "Scotty
Doesn’t Know" song that is played ceaselessly
through the flick and over the DVD menus.

8.3
out of 10

As usual, Jordie ended up alone to ponder suspicions
that it was not his own hand the surgeons reattached.

The
Goodies

The
menus, "hosted" by the absinthe fairy
who makes snide comments as you explore the
disc, lead to a surprising amount of supplements,
assuming you find them in the somewhat clumsy
navigation. First is a pair of commentary tracks
with the trio of creators, one sober track and
one "party" track with significant
amounts of alcohol. These guys are definitely
storytellers, taking jabs at the talent and
each other and spinning funny tales of how they
swiped ideas from true situations and other
projects they worked, while also giving insight
as to things ultimately discarded from the film
and trials encountered on the project (based
in Prague during the Iraq and SARS outbreaks).
The drunken track repeats much of the same information
and seems a bit dull, though I imagine it would
improve through viewer inebriation.

There
are 13 deleted scenes, most of which are elaborate
gags and unfortunate losses, but were edits
made to pare the film down to the commercially
patable 90 minute mark. The most notable cut
scenes involve "couriers" Scotty and
Cooper using an intriguing method to get both
their luggage and packages onto the plane, a
French waiter who’s had customers skip out on
checks over the course of decades, and more
of Trachtenberg’s delightful little breasts.
There’s also more time spent with peripheral
characters like the soccer goons and the tenacious
train guy, as well as the complete European
orange juice commercial featuring a pair of
hot naked lesbians (more of a bonus than a deleted
scene, that). A five-mintue gag reel has flubs
and on-set shenanigans, although much of the
footage is shown in the outtakes during the
credits at the end of the movie.

The ‘Hitcher Special’ sometimes produced strange
reactions from the diner patrons…

Brief
clips with the writers show that although all
three of them basically directed the film, the
DGA doesn’t share their enthusiasm when it comes
to such credits so the "official"
director was selected at random by a strange
Czech P.A. (credited as such). Another clip
finds them critiquing a camcorder bootleg of
the film they bought in New York about three
months before the official DVD hit stores. A
short featurette focuses on shooting the scene
on the nude beach, for those who didn’t get
enough of the exposed penises and male asses
in the film.

Music offerings include two versions of the irritating "Scotty Doesn’t
Know" song, the video and a sing-along
version, plus an advertisement for the soundtrack
CD. There’s also production notes, a stills
gallery, the full script (a lot of which didn’t
make it into the movie, according to the commentary),
talent bios, and the option to skip directly
to any of the film’s many nude scenes. Handy!

8.1
out of 10

Gratuitous
inclusions:

The
Artwork

While it could’ve benefited from breasts, the
cover features the main cast with the cute gal
getting most of the real estate. However, I
have no idea why Cooper is holding a loaf of
bread, or why his legs have been displaced about
two feet to his right.

7.0
out of 10

Overall: 7.5 out of 10