Been there, done that
Ian works at a donut shop in the mall. He has flings online with a girl he has never met. His brother is concerned that he’s going to be gay and Ian’s only concern is that he needs to prove that he isn’t. What is one to do? Well, how about jump in a car, meet the Internet chick and prove to the world your manhood! Sounds like a fine idea, right? Not quite. Ian’s simple plan ends up being a complicated mess, especially when his best friends go along for the ride.
I wasn’t expecting much from this film. After reading the back and learning a few things online, it just didn’t seem like there would be enough substance to sustain itself. American Pie had already drained this topic out in the 90s (no pun intended). This didn’t bring a lot of unique ideas to this type of film. The only one that stands out is the outcome for Ian’s brother, who presents himself as ginormous homophobic. Again, you can (as I did) pretty much guess how that character turns out. The comedy that comes from Ian’s brother, Rex (played by James Marsden), is actually one of the brighter surprises in the film. It’s rough, it’s terrible, but it’s also quite funny. So, if you’re initially looking for the comedy to be different, or the jokes to be funnier than what you’ve seen already from past movies, you probably will be slightly disappointed.
With that said, the movie does have some really entertaining moments. For example, Seth Green’s role as an amish man is exceptionally good. He isn’t vulgar, he’s actually quite intelligently written as an amish man who is extremely helpful, but carries the ‘guilt’ of an overbearing mother. It’s quite funny, especially when Ian freaks out about his brother’s GTO when it’s taken apart for repair by Ezekiel (Seth Green). I’m not sure when Green sparked into a mature comedian, but he ushers out the dialogue perfectly and without regret. He’s hilarious with his back and forth responses. Moments like these make the movie unique, but still doesn’t truly separate it from the pack.
Again, I don’t want to imply this movie is bad in any way, shape or form. The only problem with this film is that we’ve seen this before; there is nothing new here. I’m not completely sure that they could have separated it from the pack of teen comedies, but there should have been a bit of separation some how. Anyway, it brings the goods and it still is funny in the end.
Oh, how it would be so easy to use the term ‘Blu’ for this header (I won’t though)
Now, the Blu-ray version of this is good. It looks nice in HD and it sounds wonderful. It does have it’s exciting moments, especially when the car scenes are gunning. It does shine in 1080p and does bring the 5.1 quite nicely, but it isn’t completely necessary for the film. Excellent work though translating it to HD.
As for the features, you get two versions of the film. You get the theatrical version and the unrated version. What’s funny about the separation is when you choose the unrated version first, you get a beautiful introduction from the filmmakers. They encourage you to watch the theatrical version first and give you a nice shot of naked folk for some odd reason (because they can, I’m sure). So you get two very different versions of the film on one disc, which is a plus. As for actual features, here’s what you get:
– Audio commentary
– Making of a Masterpiece featurette
– The Marsden Dilemma
– Clark: Duke of the Internet
While there isn’t much here, the Marsden featurette is beyond hilarious. Watch cyclops squirm! Overall, comedies usually have kick-ass commentary and this is no different. I wish there were more though.