Road Trip Review

It should come as no surprise to find out that "Road Trip" director Todd Phillips is the man behind "Frat House," the controversial documentary about the high jinx and low life goings on of University students across the US that is so outrageous it has never been widely released, apparently for fear of legal action by the then students it featured. Bring that mentality forward a couple of years, take a little inspiration from "Animal House" and the leading man from "American Pie", then follow the Farrelly brothers example of pushing the boundaries of bad taste and you come up with "Road Trip."

The plot? Four college friends undertake an 1800 mile road trip in order to ensure one of their girlfriends doesn't receive a package posted to her by mistake, containing a video of her boyfriend's latest one night stand. Their misadventures are recounted by a tour guide at their college in upstate New York, who is determined to show the cynical would-be students on the tour that this college is far from a dull place. This simple framing device allows the film makers to stretch the (already flimsy) premise practically to breaking point, and gives MTV funny man Tom Green the chance to shine as he tells his captive audience his version of the events. This includes the theft of a bus from a school for the blind, virginity lost as the four white boys hide out in an all black female dorm, funds raised by donating sperm, a pet python with a varied appetite, and female students that are apparently quite happy to walk around their dorm naked!

"Road Trip" is not big and its not clever, but it never sets out to be. The cynical of you out there might think you've seen all of this before over the past twenty years, but those of you who fancy a good laugh without having to engage the old grey matter will find that "Road Trip" delivers exactly that.