A long time ago, gross-out comedies were funny, essentially
shocking audiences into laughter. Unfortunately, Hollywood has
failed to learn that a movie can be (gasp) too shocking to be
funny. This is the fate of “Eurotrip,” which is without
a doubt the least funny gross-out comedy ever made.
- Mira Levitan
- Holy shit! Is that Harriet the spy? (Courtesy of DreamWorks)
Understandably, first-time director Jeff Schafer did not want to
simply copy the formula for laughter used by classics like
“Road Trip” and “American Pie.” It’s
just too bad that Schafer and the rest of the production team made
a film that is exactly like the aforementioned comedies, minus the
humor. Memo to Jeff: It is possible to separate this film from
“Road Trip” without inserting a very long scene of
fully nude men running down a beach.
“Eurotrip” has the same basic plot as other teen
comedies. Scott Thomas (Scott Mechlowicz, “Neverland”)
has just graduated from high school and, in a shocking plot twist
not seen since “American Pie”, is excited and nervous
about going to college. In yet another shocking plot twist not seen
since “Road Trip,” Scott and friends Cooper (Jacob
Pitts, “K-19: The Widowmaker), Jenny (Michelle Trachtenberg,
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and Jamie (Travis Webster,
MTV’s “Undressed”) head to Europe for one last
high school adventure.
The main purpose of the trip is to find Scott’s gorgeous,
German pen pal, but the gang has a few zany adventures before Scott
can find his dream girl. It is here that “Eurotrip”
diverges from the formula of previous comedies. Funny moments are
replaced by bad jokes, a tasteless reference to Hitler, a sickening
sexual misadventure in one of Amsterdam’s dominatrix clubs
and an overly affectionate Italian man.
Luckily, “Eurotrip’s” writers occasionally
deviate from their plan and insert a funny scene or character into
the movie. An absinth-induced hallucination of a green fairy is
particularly amusing. These moments, however, make up a tiny
fraction of the film’s 90-minute run time. The rest of the
movie is not worth seeing.
Rating: 1/2 out of 5 stars.