Page 18 •Thursday, February 26, 2004
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The Pendulum
Please not another teen trip: ‘Eurotrip’ fits the format
Sean Hennen
Reviewer
You can see the studio pitch-
meeting for “Eurotrip” as clear as
day. A group of business execs are
sitting around a table trying to
decide how best to once again tap
the vast demographic of American
teenagers in a post-“American Pie”
wasteland.
One of these sharp execs
declares, “I’ve got it! ‘Road Trip’
did a decent amount of business
four years ago. Let’s take that prem
ise, recycle it for the umpteenth time
and .set it in Europe! Tlie little bug
gers will eat it up and we’ll laugh all
the way to the bank!” Tliat is basi
cally what DreamWorks Pictures
has done with the release of
“Eurotrip,” another of these dispos
able comedies that achieves
moments of genuine hilarity but
ultimately too often lets the effort
show. It’s a stupid movie that’s
smart enough to hit all the right
notes as far as the comedic set
Review
pieces go, and still pull just enough
sentiment from its fre.sh-faced leads,
passing for a film with a heart.
Tlie central storyline of
“Eurotrip” doesn’t really meet the
criteria of a real plot, but it tries so
hard. Priinary protagonist Scott
(Scott Mechlowicz) is dumped at
his high school graduation by his
girlfriend Fiona (Kristin Kreuk, of
the WB’s “Smallville”) and a night
of heavy drinking ensues.
In the midst of his beer-induced
stupor, Scott responds negatively to
an e-inail from his longtime
German pen-pal Mieke, who Scott
thinks is not only male, but trying to
hit on him. Informed the next morn
ing by his younger brother that
Mieke is a girl’s name and that a
misinterpreted photograph reveals
her to be quite attractive, Scott
decides to head to Berlin to track
down this potential love interest.
Tagging along for the ride is best
friend Cooper (Jacob Pitts) who is
present at Scott’s side merely to
enjoy “all the cr^.y European sex.”
Along the way they meet up with
their high school chums, fraternal
twins Jenny and Jamie (Michelle
Trachtenberg and Travis Wester,
respectively) who join in the rau
cous mayhem.
The movie is entirely comprised
of the comedic hijinks that arise
along the way to get to Berlin as the
quartet of travelers hops around the
continent, hitting such famed
hotspots as London, Paris,
Amsterdam and Rome. Needless to
say, their boisterous adventures pro
vide ample opportunity for laughter-
inducing situations.
With a movie like “Eurotrip,” it’s
practically Hollywood dogma that
some of the jokes will work, and
others will fall flat on their face.
Fortunately for the writing team of
Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff
Schaffer (who also directed), the
jokes come at such a dipped pace
that the flops
dissolve from
memory so fast
they barely reg
ister. A veritable
smorgasbord of
European
stereotypes, the
film tackles
crazed British
soccer fans,
nude beaches,
Dutch hash bars,
Parisian street
performers and
in the movie’s
funniest scene,
the infamous
Amsterdam .sex
clubs.
It’s all fun and games to an
extent, and thankfully none of the
mildly-xenophobic humor ever gets
too mean, but there shouldn’t be a
moviegoer under 25 years of age
who doesn’t realize that the.se film
makers are yet again clearly pan
handling us for the price of admis-
Photos courtesy of movies.com
Scott Mechlowiccz leads a group of adventurous teens
throughout &ie mo&ierland in "Eurotrip."
sion with what amounts to reused
theater fodder. See it to enjoy it, but
just realize that you’re being patron
ized.
Contact Sean Hennen at pendu-
liim@elon.edu or 278-7247.
Audiences find there’s something special about ‘The Girl Next Door’
Blake Hinton
Reviewer
It sometimes is hard to remem
ber that just 10 years ago studios
made teen movies with substance.
'Iluit’s not to say that every teen film
tcxlay is bad, but it seems that most
either focus on bathrcwm humor or
^ Review
tired cliches that have been used
hundreds of times before. Yet, the
new film “Tlie Girl Next Door”
refuses to fall into this trap, creating
a .surprisingly witty and mature teen
comedy.
It is easy
to have low
expectations
for the film,
as the plot
does spell
[X)tential dis
aster if it was
handled
wrong. The
film follows
high school
student
Mathew
Kidman,
(Emile
Flirsch) an
overachiever,
who, among
other things, is in the running for a
competitive scholarehip during his
senior year. He gets a beautiful new
neighlx)r named Danielle (Elisha
Cuthbert). After a bit of humiliation
on Mathew’s part he starts going out
with her, but things tiike a turn for
the worse though when it turns out
Danielle is actually an adult film
stiir. Mathew’s life becomes very
complicated when her
boyfriend/producer shows up.
The best thing is the surprisingly
well-written script. Currently, this
film is lieing compared to “Risky
Business,” a logical comparison.
Both films are teen flicks that rise
above their genre. Also, both films
deftly mix drama imd gcKxi physical
comedy.
It’s interesting that the preview
of Girl Next Door doesn’t reveal the
surprisingly mature iuid dark nature
this film takes, especially toward the
end. Rarely have teen films done
anything outside the box.
All the characters here iire well-
rounded. Even Mathew’s two best
friends that get involved later in the
film arc given a fully rounded
nature. It’s hard to believe this
comes from the same director who
gave us a wreck like ‘The Animal.”
Also, the acting is quite good.
Hirsch, if there is iiny justice in the
world, will become a big star. For
his first big, starring role he carries
himself quite well and has a knack
for shifting between the more broad
comedy to the serious parts.
Cuthbert has already made herself
very well-known on the show “24.”
Here she also distinguishes herself
in her first major starring role,
thankfully staying far away froin
her whiny character in "24.”
Tlie biggest asset to this film is
without a doubt the relationship
between Mathew and Danielle and
Mathew and his friends. It is very
rare to see in this kind of film rela
tionships of so much substance. The
movie is not Shakespeare, but it is
far above average.
Of course, the movie is not per
fect. Tow;u-d the end it takes some
big leaps of logic, but this is all real
ly irrelevant. Tlie point is for the
first time in years we have a smart
and deft teen comedy that anyone
can enjoy. This is reason enough to
celebrate and see the movie.
Contact Blake Hinton at pendu-
lum@elon.edu or 278-7247.
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Photo courtesy of movies.com
Elisha Cuthbert and Emile Hersh arouse audience enthusi-
asm in the surprisingly charming "The Girl Next Door."