Road Trip [2000]

November 17, 2023

You simply had to be there to fully comprehend this wave of raunchy sex comedies that swept the world during the early 2000s. It all started a year earlier with the iconic American Pie and it continued with movies like Van Wilder, Euro Trip, and Beerfest. Of course, at the same time, another subgenre was quickly rising to the top. I’m talking about the rise of stoner movies like Harold and Kumar Go To Whitecastle, Dude, Where’s My Car, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, for example. Road Trip is a juicy adventure comedy not afraid of nudity or gross-out scenes. We will be following a college student who accidentally sends a sex tape of him and another girl to his girlfriend.

It’s short, pacey, and features this exciting atmosphere you rarely see in modern comedies. Of course, things were much different back then and you could get away with a lot of stuff. For example, I don’t think that White Chicks, one of my favorite comedies of that period could be made today. Moving on, Road Trip is exactly the rude, offensive, and yet intensely hilarious comedy you think it is. The jokes simply do not stop and each scene is trying to top the previous one. There will be all types of jokes and all types of humor, this movie certainly didn’t discriminate. It’s basically trying to catch you off guard and then whack you over the head with the next, even wilder, scene.

When I was younger, Road Trip had a different dimension as I was hoping I could have these adventures. All the sex, alcohol, and drugs I could experience during my “wild period”. Now, I’m slowly but surely feeling that nostalgia creeping in. I can only imagine what’s going to happen when I hit forty. Although hopefully, I would be hitting a humongous bong while celebrating that occasion so things should be alright. I also want to talk about the characters in these movies. I want to talk about the characters and how young men view them.

It’s like you could build your entire personality, or at least some aspects of it, based on a certain character in this movie. I loved Tom Green’s crazy character Barry, mostly because I wanted to be different and yet cool and accepted among my peers. Additionally, he seems to be fully utilizing his intelligence to get the girls and not his looks or money. Although Paulo Costanzo as Rubin was also a good choice, in my opinion. And not just because he likes to smoke weed. Moving on, Road Trip can also be an educational experience. I had no idea that the male G-spot is actually located in the rectum (it’s the prostate).

Road Trip is a movie that’s going to leave you in a good mood and craving for more of the same. Director and writer Todd Phillips went on to work on such projects as Old School, The Hangover, and War Dogs. His most recent movie is none other than the 2019 masterpiece Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix. With it, he proved that he’s not just a “comedy guy” but a truly talented and skilled director and writer. Of course, Road Trip owes a lot of its success to its stellar cast. Breckin Meyer is in the lead role, playing your average guy, a role he’ll reprise just a year later in another road trip comedy Rat Race.

Seann William Scott, Paulo Costanzo, and especially DJ Qualls were all great. I’m only sad that we didn’t get more female characters, as I can only mention Amy Smart and that’s it. I guess this isn’t that type of a movie. Finally, if you’re looking for movies like Road Trip, check out Sex Drive, Along Came Polly, and How High.