EuroTrip
EuroTrip | |
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Directed by | Jeff Schaffer[1] |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | David Eggby |
Edited by | Roger Bondelli |
Music by | James L. Venable |
Production company | |
Distributed by | DreamWorks Pictures[1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 92 minutes[1] |
Country | United States[1] |
Language | English[1] |
Budget | $25 million[2] |
Box office | $20.8 million[2] |
EuroTrip is a 2004 American teen sex comedy[3] film directed by Jeff Schaffer and written by Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Schaffer. It stars Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts, Michelle Trachtenberg, Travis Wester, and Jessica Boehrs (in her film debut). Mechlowicz portrays Scott "Scotty" Thomas, an American high school graduate who travels across Europe in search of his German pen pal, Mieke (Boehrs). Accompanied by his friend Cooper (Pitts) and twin siblings Jenny and Jamie (Trachtenberg and Wester), Scott's quest takes him to England, France, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Germany, and Italy, encountering awkward, humorous, and embarrassing situations along the way.
Plot
In the town of Hudson, Ohio, Scott "Scotty" Thomas is dumped by his girlfriend, Fiona, immediately after his high school graduation at the beginning of the film. With his best friend, Cooper Harris, Scotty attends a graduation party that evening, where the band performs a song detailing the affair Fiona was having with the band's singer. Scotty returns home drunk and angry and reads an email from his German pen pal, Mieke—who Scotty calls "Mike"—expressing sympathy for Scotty and suggesting they meet in person. Cooper suggests that "Mike" may be a sexual predator and Scotty tells Mieke to stay away from him. Scotty's younger brother, Bert, informs him that "Mieke" is actually a common German feminine name. Realizing he had mistaken her name and that he has feelings for Mieke, Scotty tries to contact her again, but discovers that Mieke has blocked his email address. Scotty decides to travel to Europe with Cooper to find Mieke and apologize in-person.
Scotty and Cooper first arrive in
In Rome, the group heads to
Scotty moves to Oberlin College in the fall term to begin his studies. During his phone conversation with Cooper, who is dating Jenny, Cooper asks what Scotty's new roommate looks like. Mieke knocks on the door of his room, having been assigned to the same room because of another misunderstanding about her name. Scotty and Mieke embrace and get into bed together, with Cooper calling for Scott on the other end of a still-open cell phone call and the film's closing with the Absinthe Green Fairy wondering at his own lack of a sex life.
Cast
- Scott Mechlowicz as Scott "Scotty" Thomas:
A recent high school graduate who inadvertently makes the mistake of thinking his German pen pal Mieke to be a homosexual man, thanks to his limited fluency in speaking German.[4] When he finds out that Mieke is in reality an attractive woman, Scotty travels across Europe to Berlin to beg for her forgiveness.[5] Mechlowicz described Scotty as a flawed but kindhearted man, who is "very lucky to have such a good group of friends to prop him back up".[4] - hypersexual man who is "driven by his own base impulses ... which gets everyone else into trouble."[4]
- Michelle Trachtenberg as Jenny:
Scotty and Cooper's friend and twin sister of Jamie. Trachtenberg described Jenny as both book savvy and a risk-taker. "She is more willing to take a chance or go on an adventure, whereas Jamie always has to be convinced", said Trachtenberg.[4] - Travis Wester as Jamie:
Jenny's twin brother. Wester described Jamie as a lifelong learner whose aspiration is "the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge".[4] - Jessica Boehrs as Mieke Schmidt:
Scotty's German pen pal.[4] Boehrs made her film debut with EuroTrip.[5]
The cast also includes
Production
Writers Mandel, Berg, and Schaffer all directed, but only Schaffer could achieve director credit.[9]
All scenes were filmed in Prague, Czech Republic.[9] The opening scenes set in Ohio were filmed at the International School of Prague.[9] The scene where the main characters are boarding at the Paris railway station was filmed in Prague's main railway station (Hlavní nádraží).[9] The scene inside Vatican City was actually filmed in Prague's National Museum.[9] The scenes with a German lorry driver were taken at the then-unfinished D5 motorway near Pilsen.[9] Matt Damon was filming The Brothers Grimm in Prague and agreed to play the punk singer; as he wore a wig for Grimm, Damon could shave his head for EuroTrip.[10]
Reception
Critical response
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives EuroTrip a 47% rating based on 120 reviews, and an average of 5.1/10. The site's critical consensus says, "A trip worth taking if one's not offended by gratuitous nudity and bad taste."[11] On Metacritic, the film scored 45 out of 100 based on 30 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]
In her review for
In the New York Times,
Box office
The film was released in the United States and Canada on February 20, 2004, in 2,512 theaters. Over its opening weekend, the film grossed $6.7 million. It went on to gross $17.8 million in the United States and Canada and $3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $20.8 million.[2]
Home media
The film was released on DVD in the U.S. on June 1, 2004, in an R-rated theatrical version (90 minutes) and an "Unrated" extended version (92 minutes). The theatrical version was released on Blu-ray in 2013. The "Unrated" extended edition was released on Blu-Ray in 2022.
Legacy
Although not as successful at the box office as the producers'
Damon reportedly has said that despite appearing in notable films like
Soundtrack
Eurotrip | |
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Soundtrack album by various artists | |
Released | February 24, 2004 |
Genre | Punk rock, pop |
Label | Milan |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
- "Scotty Doesn't Know" – Lustra
- "My Generation" – Chapeaumelon (The Whocover)
- "Wild One" – Wakefield
- "99 Red Balloons" – Goldfinger (Nena cover)
- "In the City" – The Jam
- "Ca Plane Pour Moi" - "Plastic Bertrand"
- "Shooting Stars" – Cauterize
- "Jet
- "Nonchalant" – Chapeaumelon
- "Scotty Doesn't Know" (Euro Version) – MC Jeffsky
- "Make My Dreams Come True" – Apollo 440
- "Du" – David Hasselhoff (Peter Maffay cover)
- "Les Promesses" – Autour De Lucie
- "I Love Marijuana" – Linval Thompson
- "Turn It Up" – Ugly Duckling
- "Get Loose" – The Salads
- “England 5, Germany 1” - The Business
- “Guinness Boys” - The Business
- “9 to 5 (Morning Train)” - Sheena Easton
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Eurotrip". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on 2017-08-06. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
- ^ a b c "Eurotrip (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 9, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
- ^ Colburn, Randall (August 17, 2018). "Behold, an oral history of 'Scotty Doesn't Know' and Matt Damon's weird-ass Eurotrip cameo". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "Eurotrip Movie Production Notes". Media Atlantis. DreamWorks Pictures. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Foundas, Scott (February 17, 2004). "Eurotrip". Variety. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "Eurotrip (2004)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
- ^ Thomson, Desson (February 20, 2004). "Tasteless 'Eurotrip' Doesn't Travel Well". Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
- ^ a b Colgan, Mary (26 February 2004). "Eurotrip (2004)". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f EuroTrip DVD Commentary
- ^ a b c Ryan, Mike (2018-08-17). "Don't Tell Scotty But Here's An Oral History Of 'Scotty Doesn't Know'". UPROXX. Archived from the original on 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
- ^ "Eurotrip". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on May 23, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
- ^ "Eurotrip (2004): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
- ^ Zacharek, Stephanie. "EuroTrip". Salon.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^ Mitchell, Elvis (February 20, 2004). "A Jokey Quest for Eurosex, Riding a Wave of Alcohol". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ Miller, Michael (February 17, 2004). "Film". Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2008-09-15. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ "EuroTrip, a somewhat definitive review". Ultra Culture. Archived from the original on January 8, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.