For over 20 years now Hollywood has been touting raucous comedies as 'in the tradition of Animal House'. For over 20 years we have constantly been duped into seeing some pretty horrible comedies. I am quite pleased that with Road Trip, the hype might not be comepletely accurate but we are most assuredly on more solid ground here. This of course depends on your sense of humor. However, the mere mention of Animal House should indicate a certain level of humor and if you don't classify this as humor, best to shuffle on to the next Woody Allen matinee my friend.
The next warning sign is layered on the promotional material for the film. "Love is never having to say you're sorry you made a sex tape with a woman then mailed it to your girlfriend."
Still reading? Good, then we can begin.
The first positive is a surprising one and it comes in the form of the usually obnoxious Tom Green. He has a peripheral role here but one that works as narrator of the tale and hits with some very funny material. As Barry he has been attending classes (at least in theory he has been attending) for over 8 years and he knows all the urban tales of the University of Ithaca and the one he is about to relate is the greatest tale of all.
This simple tale of our heroes road tripping to prevent the risque tape from falling into the wrong hands would not be complete with some pretty cliched characters and we get the troublemaker (Seann William Scott), the geek (DJ Quall making his big screen debut) and the best buddy roommate (Paul Costanzo) all of whom slide into their roles naturally and fortunately, with a knack for comedy. As the genre title itself implies, a series of misadventures befall our heroes with drugs, sex, and always some kind of vehicular mishap. Some of it plays out well, sometimes it falls a little short of the goal, but never in a roll your eyes into the back your head manner.
Perhaps the problem with the film is also the main problem within the genre. A roadtrip film often stretches on too far and where the jokes sustain interest for the most part as the film hits the second hour, it begins running low on fuel. Eventually we are lucky to coast into the credits on fumes but again, it could all be much, much worse. Be thankful for the laughs that are here.
3 stars out of 5.
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Copyright© Written By: Rob Paul
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