Review of EuroTrip (2004) by Kyle S — 15 Mar 2013

Never have I had to suffer through so many a facepalm at one sitting. Riddled with offhanded, unsophisticated parody and dialog of and about cliche high school students' partying, mean-spirited interface and (lack of) ethics; the tendencies of a predictable love story; the ridiculousness of catholic tradition; disillusionment; Eastern Europe's war-torn state; the diversity in strange personalities, characters, and regional propensities in Europe - this can be engrossing or put off the viewer, dependent on his or her mood and nature. It's not a cultured satire, and usually defaults and resorts to cheap humor (but can be very amusing at times through situational irony).

From oversexualized Italian perverts and Hitler-crazed German children to rich (but slutty) charmers and lunatic Manchester United fans, the film enables the watcher to traverse the entirety of Europe in search of Mike, with the "protagonists" - a loser high school graduate who fails to defend his honor, a dufus ignorant sidekick of lowest common denominator intelligence, an innocent, well mannered, and hardworking student, and his sister, Michelle Trachtenberg of Inspector Gadget fame (and soon-to-be Ice Princess fame). This "unlikely group" is so forced that I could peer into the screenwriters' convention -- "okay we want them all to be unique but loveable so we can cater to all types of audiences." "how about a pointless idiot accomplice to the protagonist?" "cool, cool, that takes care of 20% of the target demographic, what else we got?" "I like the idea of a really anal [snickering from other screenwriters] AP student on vacation with his really bland but hot sister character" "great! think of all the possibilities! we could really tie in some great interactions between them. if we make them twins, they could share a deep bond or something imp-" "or we could just have them make out..." *murmur of agreement from the rest* "fine. it's done then. this. is going. to be. A MASTERPIECE.".

I do like the pope humor (especially in light of recent news), and how the character Jamie ends up on top with an amazing position that suits his interests after taking on the role of a tour guide during the plot (he essentially played tour guide to the other three main characters throughout the movie, so this was kind of clever because it seemed appropriate). But there were things that annoyed me about this film, particularly of the closing. 1. Mike never confronts the protagonist, Scott, concerning the email he sent her, and accepts him immediately, simply for travelling to find her (stalkerish, especially considering his response via the web); 2. how the imbecile of the group, Cooper, is able to navigate retaining his summer job whilst fucking around in Europe (unknown to his boss, but how?) and causing the expulsion of a legitimate co-worker; 3. how Cooper is able to persuade Jenny; 4. the manner in which, by a crazy twist of fate, Mike is so immediately accepted into Scott's school (regardless of the application process timeline), is capable of rooming with him (although strict codes at most university systems prohibit this, and gender identification is required in the documentation), and surprises him out of the blue to be with him rather than spend time in fucking Greece; 5. need I continue? and that's just the end of the movie. Dispersed throughout are various other plot elements and loopholes that weren't properly considered by the writers. And while the movie is still funny in its on eccentric way, I am easily distracted and annoyed at ill-written scripts. It's not a total waste of time, but - who am I kidding, it was a FUN waste of time.

2/5.