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ROAD TRIP Send This Review to a Friend
Gross grosses, so it's logical that the college comedy "Road Trip" might turn out to be a hit with the young dating crowd, especially since so much of the movie is downright funny, including the two grossest scenes. One involves revenge by a waiter for having to take back an order of French toast, the other a mouse dangling in a mouth. There's plenty of hell-raising apart from those two sure-to-be-talked-about moments, and all of it is good-natured collegiate humor that follows in the spirit of "Animal House." Throw in some nudity, a few forward young women and outrageous situations and you have the kind of sex-tinged humor that should amuse its target audience and others among the curious.
As for plot in this romp directed by Todd Phillips, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scot Armstrong, it takes a while for the story to get going. The framework is an outlandish campus tour of potential enrollees at Ithaca College embellished with a tale that is enacted. Josh (Breckin Meyer), who wants to be faithful to his long-time girlfriend Tiffany (Rachel Blanchard), now far away at the University of Austin, succumbs to the sexual advances of Beth (Amy Smart), who has the idea of videotaping their lovemaking. By mistake Josh sends the video to Tiffany, and in a panic, he and his buddies set off on a cross-country trip to intercept the incriminating video before it reaches her. For starters, they borrow the doomed car of their milquetoast pal, oddball Kyle (DJ Qualls). Part of the joke is seeing Kyle finally turn the tables and become his own man, in and out of bed. Skinny and with protruding ears and a Bob Hope nose, Qualls is a very funny fellow in looks and acting ability; he reminds me of the young Michael J. Pollard.
One funny incident follows another, including a visit to a sperm bank to raise needed cash, with a pretty assistant giving one contributor a discharge through a prostate massage that he'll never forget. There is a misguided visit to a fraternity that turns out to be one for African-Americans. All fits into the category of college-guy horsing around that has become a genre unto its own, and as such films go, this is quite consistently side-splitting once it slips into gear. A DreamWorks Pictures release.
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