A sample of a youth comedy. The actors of "American Pie"

The middle of the 90s of last century was marked by the appearance of several youth paintings. They were not just designed for a teen audience, but were a whole genre in the cinema. Erotic subtext quickly found reflection in a critical assessment, but the audience took the picture, as they say, with a bang. "Party people from the supermarket," "In pursuit of Amy," "Everyone is crazy about Mary" and, of course, "Do not threaten the southern central, sipping juice in your neighborhood" can be safely attributed to the number of bright representatives of the new genre. But nothing gained greater love than the "American Pie".

History of creation

It's unlikely that the Universal Pictures studio imagined what would come out of a seemingly simple script bought from Adam Hertz for $ 650,000, and handed over to the debutant directors of the Weitz Brothers. However, the picture brought incredible success, which marked the beginning of the modern teenage tradition. In particular, the idea of graduating from an average educational institution with an inherent graduation ball was especially topical. And as a consequence, the obligatory fact of loss of virginity. Two important events in the life of each teenager have harmoniously joined together, finding reflection in many films to this day. Inspired by a dream, the main characters slowly but surely move towards the goal, falling into various comic situations. The film company, feeling success, looked forward to a long sequel, poured into several parts, and the actors of the "American Pie" after the release of the tape woke up famous.

Problems of the young

So, in the center of unpretentious narrative are four graduates of the school: Jim, Chris, Kevin and Paul. Before the ball, they make a bet, according to which each of them must lose virginity. The problem and the main comicality of the film are that they are unskillful in love affairs, and they are always unlucky. However, each of the four on this "star" evening gets the desired result.

By the way, this is the result for everyone: Chris is fascinated by vocalist Heather, Jim flautist Michelle, Kevin slept with Vicki, who left him in the morning, Jim realized that he was used in sexual pleasures, and Finch spends the night with Steve's mother.

Such a different and critically appreciated final liked the public, and the actors of the American Pie, like their characters, in one night acquired something new - world fame.

Problems of adults

For greater naturalism, the creators used live footage. Long Beach town of sunny California for a while became a film set, and school episodes were shot in the building of the real school district. In order for the picture to collect a good cash register, the producers had to think about what scenes to leave in order to get an appropriate rating that allows teenagers to view. By the way, the cut scenes of "American Pie" were included in the full version, published on DVD.

The involvement of young filmmakers and little-known stars was also proved to be true. The actors of the movie "American Pie" were selected from a variety of applicants. As a result, they fell in love with the audience not only of youth, but also of a more mature generation, as statistics show.

Continuation

This can be expected from any Hollywood box office film: the studios decide on the continuation if the success of the first part is assured. In this case, it was more than success. So, with a budget of 11 million dollars, the total world charges exceeded 235 million.

Profitable spin-offs were born with a similar plot and a close name, however, served only as a bad attempt to collect cash, and did not have much success. But the sequels were successful: at the moment there are 8 parts. In the latter, under the symbolic title "All in Assembly", the actors of the American Pie from the first part agreed to participate. By the way, it paid off the budget in similar proportions of its original predecessor.

"American Pie": actors and roles

Jason Biggs embodied the image of the main character - a guy named Jim Levenshtein. He, like other actors, was previously unknown to the public. It is this hero who is looking for extremely unusual ways of sexual relaxation, and attempts at intimacy with girls often fail. Sports Chris Klein perfectly suited for the role of Chris Ostraikera. Brutal, assertive, he is loyal to the vocalist of the school choir Heather, and excessive straightforwardness repels representatives of the opposite sex. Thomas Ian Nicholas already had experience shooting, when he received an invitation to "Pie". His hero - Kevin Myers is the initiator of the prisoner's bet. Eddie Thomas, inclined to theatrical productions, got the role of Paul Finch - this guy is confident in his masculine abilities, and his competitor is no less attractive old foe Stifler. Tara Reed, a frequent guest of youth films of different genres, embodied the image of Vicky, the girl of Kevin. She is increasingly disappointed in her friend, and afterward runs away from him. Alison Hannigan is familiar to us on the series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Her heroine Michelle seems to many an uninteresting gray mouse. However, as soon as Jim begins to express sympathy for her, she quickly realizes that this is not so. Mena Suvari, known for the thriller "Kissing girls", played a naive chorus player Heather. In general, this is a positive, sincere girl who managed to find a soul mate in Chris .

On the background

The team of close friends has become a kind of standard of on-screen friendship, and their performers - youth idols. The actors of the American Pie, who are not members of the main cast, also contributed to the creation of a successful comedy, and their episodic roles were vivid and memorable.

The image of a typical Stiffler's school-beating was for Shaunn William Scott incredibly realistic. He often agrees to a similar role, in which he feels confident. The actor himself has an impressive filmography, in which the "Pie" was not the first work.

To dilute the images of adult characters were recognized as comedians with experience. So, Canadian Eugene Levy for his career starred in a variety of paintings of a similar (and not only) direction. In the film, he plays Jim's father, who remembers his youth and gives his son some advice. Jennifer Coolidge has an incredible charisma - her reincarnation in the mother of Stifler, with which one of the friends of the four has a first intimacy, caused a pleasant spectator response. The actress often plays in comedies.

Long love

A series of films "American Pie" can be called a successful franchise. For fifteen years of its existence, the number of fans has not diminished, but as an example, it still inspires many studios still trying to do something similar. "American Pie", actors and roles, the general atmosphere and themes of the first sex, as well as many amusing episodes (including the pie, which gave the title of the film), even today, can still eclipse almost any youth novelty.