--- title: "Road Trip: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/road-trip/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/road-trip" critics_score: 64 critics_reviews: 9 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." --- # Road Trip (2000): what the critics said Critics' score 64 from 9 reviews: 6 positive, 1 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics come away amused and not much more, which for a gross-out comedy is roughly the point. The reviews lean positive by two to one, and the praise clusters on the same things: the raunch is delivered with confidence, the pace is brisk, and the whole thing sits comfortably in the Animal House and American Pie line without embarrassing itself. Tom Green’s offbeat narration and DJ Qualls are the performers most often singled out, and Variety credits director Phillips with balancing beery chaos against some sly calculation about what will land. The reservations are about structure rather than taste. Several reviews call the plot thin or contrived and the film formulaic, a string of set pieces on wheels. Sight and Sound wants sharper punchlines, RogerEbert.com finds the mix of sweetness and raunch uneasy, and The AV Club thinks the jokes simply do not land. The spread is moderate: nobody raves and nobody despises it. ## Empire — Clark Collis Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic finds the film plotless and tasteless but wickedly funny, better than American Pie thanks to knowing digs at 1980s movies. It earns a place in the same ballpark as Animal House, with a subtext about living life to the fullest. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/road-trip-review/) ## Variety — Joe Leydon Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 15 May 2000. Leydon notes that the gross-out humor is even grosser than American Pie, praising how director Phillips strikes the right balance of beery anarchy and sly calculation. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/road-trip-1200462249/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kevin Thomas Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2000. Thomas calls it an uproarious college comedy that continues the rowdy Animal House tradition, consistently funny with over-the-top humor and a clear-eyed lack of sentimentality. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-may-19-ca-31587-story.html) ## The New York Times — Stephen Holden Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2000. Holden highlights the raunchy gross-out humor, singling out the notorious French toast sequence as part of a hit in the post-teen genre with clever mad scientists of dumb cinematic raunch. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/19/movies/film-review-restaurant-protocol-and-other-helpful-tips.html) ## Time Out — TJ Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The review describes the road trip antics as echoing the Farrelly brothers while noting more to offer than just highlights, singling out Tom Green's offbeat narration and especially DJ Qualls' performance for praise amid the good-natured humor. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/road-trip) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 13 October 2000. Gross-out comedy feels dated and forced to some, but the film is better than most teen movies thanks to crisp dialogue, good pace, and Tom Green as the standout performer. It is entertaining and worth watching despite not being a classic. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/road-trip-review/) ## Sight and Sound — Keith Perry Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 1 November 2000. The critic views it as a standard youth comedy on wheels with a series of set pieces, finding much of the visual comedy amusing but faulting the script for lacking sharper punchlines and the film overall for not pushing boundaries enough. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/484) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2000. Ebert finds the film uneasy with its mix of sweetness and raunch, criticizing the contrived plot and obligatory nudity while noting some likable characters and laughs. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/road-trip-2000) ## The AV Club — Keith Phipps Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2000. The film aims low and hits its mark as a formulaic teen sex comedy in the vein of American Pie, succeeding at being broad and mercenary but failing to make its jokes land effectively. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/road-trip-1798192383) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/road-trip.md