---
title: "American Pie"
year: 1999
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/american-pie"
fi1m_id: "american-pie"
imdb_id: "tt0163651"
tmdb_id: 2105
wikidata_id: "Q220713"
fi1m_score: 64
critics_score: 61
critics_reviews: 12
published: "2026-10-05T01:48:02.891440+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-05T01:48:04.165194+00:00"
region: "ID"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# American Pie (1999)

Directed by Paul Weitz · 1h 35m · Comedy, Romance

## Identity

American Pie

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/american-pie
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** american-pie
- **IMDb ID:** tt0163651
- **TMDB ID:** 2105
- **Wikidata ID:** Q220713
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163651/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/2105, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q220713

**Fi1m score: 64** · Critics 61 from 12 reviews

*In a sentence:* The teenagers want sex; we would settle for another conversation with Eugene Levy

> Paul Weitz’s teenage sex comedy is fitfully funny, with an appealing cast and a welcome streak of kindness. Its familiar jokes and casual treatment of sexual privacy make it a qualified recommendation at best.

## Synopsis

Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs), Chris ‘Oz’ Ostreicher (Chris Klein), Kevin Meyers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) approach sex with more curiosity than experience. The boys make a pact, turning a private worry into a shared undertaking. Their friendship offers reassurance, but it also means that embarrassment has an audience. Jim’s Father (Eugene Levy) brings a parent’s concern into a subject Jim would rather manage himself. The boys want to stop feeling inexperienced, while working out how to approach the people whose attention they want.

## Review

*American Pie* is a fitfully funny teenage sex comedy whose likeable cast makes a stronger case for it than the writing does. Paul Weitz keeps enough affection in the boys’ friendship to make their anxiety recognisable, even when their behaviour is difficult to defend. Adam Herz’s screenplay understands how easily sexual inexperience can feel like a public failure. It is much less interested in asking when a joke at somebody else’s expense ought to stop.

Jason Biggs gives Jim Levenstein an awkwardness that feels involuntary, as though the effort to appear at ease has exhausted him. Chris Klein, as Chris ‘Oz’ Ostreicher, lends the group a softness that stops its talk about sex becoming wholly tiresome. Thomas Ian Nicholas keeps Kevin Meyers grounded, while Eddie Kaye Thomas makes Paul Finch’s self-possession another source of insecurity. The performances let us recognise friends trying to reassure one another without acquiring much wisdom in the process.

Eugene Levy is the clearest reason to stay with it. As Jim’s Father, he makes the effort to be helpful almost unbearably awkward, but never suggests that the care behind it is foolish. We laughed, then felt unexpectedly fond of him: his earnest concern survives the embarrassment he causes. Paul Weitz gives that performance enough room to establish a parent worth listening to, however much his son might prefer not to.

The women are harder to account for so generously. Alyson Hannigan brings comic assurance to Michelle Flaherty, and Natasha Lyonne gives Jessica a welcome scepticism about the boys’ preoccupations. But the film’s willingness to treat an invasion of sexual privacy as entertainment makes its kindness feel selective. We were uncomfortable with that invitation to laugh: another person’s right to choose what others see hardly seems to concern it. Giving the women some confidence and good lines does not make that problem disappear.

Richard Crudo’s cinematography keeps faces readable and the comedy easy to follow, but offers little pleasure beyond that practical job. Paul Peters’s production design is similarly unobtrusive; the surroundings seldom give us anything funny to notice while the actors are talking. This is plain staging, dependent on a performer supplying the awkward pause or the sudden flash of alarm. That restraint suits the gentler exchanges, although it leaves the broader material looking rather flat.

Priscilla Nedd-Friendly’s editing is most effective when it gives embarrassment time to register on a face. Elsewhere, the jokes can be obvious well before the film has finished delivering them, and the wait becomes a nuisance. David Nessim Lawrence’s score supports the genial mood without doing much to distinguish one passage from another. The film runs 95 minutes, but the repeated insistence on sexual inadequacy makes parts of it feel longer.

The teen sex comedy needs some recognition alongside its dirty jokes, and the friendship here supplies it. The boys’ fondness for one another gives their foolishness a reason to matter, even when their conversation becomes wearing. But the film returns too readily to humiliation without much concern for who has agreed to be part of the joke. Try it if embarrassment comedy is your pleasure; patience with adolescent boasting will be useful.

*Fi1m score 64, published 5 October 2026.*

## Straight answers

**Is American Pie worth watching?**

*American Pie* is worth considering if embarrassment comedy is your pleasure, but our score of 64 reflects a qualified recommendation. We find the cast appealing and Eugene Levy’s earnest father especially funny, though the familiar jokes, repeated adolescent boasting and casual treatment of sexual privacy make it harder to enjoy.

**How long is American Pie, and what is it rated?**

*American Pie* runs 1h 35m. It is a comedy and romance film.

**Where can I watch American Pie in Indonesia?**

*American Pie* is not on any streaming or rental service in Indonesia at the moment. It is available in 14 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is American Pie, and is it suitable for children?**

*American Pie* has a UK 15 certificate and is not suitable for children; its teenage sex comedy centres on sexual anxiety, dirty jokes and humiliation. We would flag its treatment of an invasion of sexual privacy as entertainment for anyone choosing it for older teenagers, rather than suggest that its genial mood makes it harmless.

**How does American Pie compare to Fast Times at Ridgemont High?**

*American Pie* is the more qualified recommendation beside [*Fast Times at Ridgemont High*](https://film.one/film/fast-times-at-ridgemont-high), which gives the girls’ lives more attention while remaining a frank, funny school comedy. We favour the latter for that broader interest in its characters, despite its loose storytelling and occasional cruelty; *American Pie* suits a stronger appetite for embarrassment and boys reassuring one another about sex.

**What should I watch after American Pie?**

After *American Pie*, try [*Fast Times at Ridgemont High*](https://film.one/film/fast-times-at-ridgemont-high) (1982, Fi1m 70): Another frank school comedy with more patience for the girls’ lives. Then [*Superbad*](https://film.one/film/superbad) (2007, Fi1m 82): Friendship and sexual panic collide, with a sharper sense of impending separation; and [*The Inbetweeners*](https://film.one/tv/the-inbetweeners) (2008, Fi1m 84): British boys turn sexual ignorance into an apparently inexhaustible supply of embarrassment.

### Reviews we read (12)

- **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (85/100, inferred): Turan finds the film surprisingly warmhearted and sincere beneath its gross-out comedy. He praises its decency toward its characters, especially the women, and its likable young cast. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-09-ca-54153-story.html)
- **Empire**, Andy Lancaster (80/100, inferred): Lancaster views the film as an inventive, unexpectedly successful revival of the teen sex comedy. He praises its blend of John Hughes-style sensitivity with gross-out humor. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/empire-essay-american-pie-review/)
- **Radio Times**, Joanna Berry (4/5): Berry finds it a laughter-packed, crass comedy that should satisfy fans of gross-out farce. She also praises the young cast’s spot-on performances. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-e8d20a/american-pie/)
- **Total Film**, Total Film (4/5): The review finds the crude teen comedy surprisingly funny and affecting. It praises the believable female characters and the warmth of the friendship story alongside the juvenile gags. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/american-pie-review/)
- **Variety**, Todd McCarthy (72/100, inferred): McCarthy finds the film successful as blunt, raunchy comedy aimed at teenage audiences, though less inventive than a comparable recent comedy. He praises its frankness about teenage nature and singles out the bedroom scene witnessed by the student body as a comic highlight. [Read](https://variety.com/1999/film/reviews/american-pie-1200458000/)
- **The New York Times** (64/100, inferred): The article URL labels this a film review of the matching 1999 film. The inaccessible page provides no readable verdict or specific praise or complaint. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/09/movies/film-review-the-road-to-manhood-paved-in-raunchy-jokes-and-pie.html)
- **Time Out**, TCh (63/100, inferred): The available page text does not reveal the critic’s overall verdict. Its description singles out the ludicrous masturbation scene and frames the film as a Farrelly-like jock comedy. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/american-pie)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (2.5/4): Ebert finds the comedy funny but limited, rather than a standout in its genre. He singles out the film’s familiar, crude approach to teenage sex as a weakness. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/american-pie-1999)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Kirk Honeycutt (35/100, inferred): The critic finds the comedy stale and its script and direction pedestrian, though its target audience may enjoy it. He praises the likable cast and notes that the final payoffs are funny or poignant. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/american-pie-review-movie-1999-1223085/)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (10/100, inferred): Bradshaw considers the film terrible and advises avoiding it. He complains that its humor is plodding, unfunny, and predictable. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,89949,00.html)
- **HeyUGuys**, Dave Roper (4/5): Roper finds the original the strongest film in the trilogy, praising its authentic camaraderie and unexpectedly sweet tone. He especially singles out Eugene Levy’s fatherly performance as a highlight. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/american-pie-the-trilogy-blu-ray-review/)
- **Consequence**, Alex Huntsberger (10/100, inferred): The critic argues that the film has aged into an almost unwatchable relic, with its misogyny and creepy sexual politics overwhelming any nostalgia. They single out the nonconsensual live-streaming scene as especially disturbing, and find the comedy weak as well. [Read](https://consequence.net/2019/07/classic-film-review-american-pie/)

## Details

- **Director:** Paul Weitz
- **Director:** Paul Weitz
- **Screenplay:** Adam Herz
- **Cinematography:** Richard Crudo
- **Editor:** Priscilla Nedd-Friendly
- **Music:** David Nessim Lawrence
- **Production design:** Paul Peters
- **Costume design:** Leesa Evans
- **Producer:** Chris Weitz, Chris Moore, Craig Perry
- **Cast:** Jason Biggs as Jim Levenstein; Chris Klein as Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher; Thomas Ian Nicholas as Kevin Meyers; Alyson Hannigan as Michelle Flaherty; Shannon Elizabeth as Nadia; Tara Reid as Victoria 'Vicky' Lathum; Eddie Kaye Thomas as Paul Finch; Seann William Scott as Steve Stifler
- **Runtime:** 1h 35m
- **Release (Indonesia):** 4 July 2005
- **Genres:** Comedy, Romance
- **Budget:** $11 million
- **Box office:** $235 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXd7ruWo9Gg

## Where to watch in Indonesia

Not streaming, renting or buying in Indonesia at the last check.

Also available in: AU, CA, ES, FR, GB, HK, IE, IN, IT, MX, NL, NZ, RO, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Fast Times at Ridgemont High* (1982), Fi1m 70: Another frank school comedy with more patience for the girls’ lives. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/fast-times-at-ridgemont-high.md)
- *Gregory's Girl* (1980): Adolescent longing handled with gentle absurdity and considerably less public humiliation.
- *Superbad* (2007), Fi1m 82: Friendship and sexual panic collide, with a sharper sense of impending separation. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/superbad.md)
- *The Inbetweeners* (2008), Fi1m 84: British boys turn sexual ignorance into an apparently inexhaustible supply of embarrassment. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-inbetweeners.md)
- *Show Me Love* (1998): A tender Swedish account of teenage desire, loneliness and the fear of gossip.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/american-pie