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» Let’s go Euro Tripping!! November 25, 2003

Well, it’s movie time! So what should we do? Here’s an idea, lets take a trip to Europe with the DreamWorks motion picture Euro Trip!

The premise of the movie is a simple one, boy meets girl on the net, girl suggests they meet, boy freaks, boy discovers that girl is a knockout, boy decides to go meet girl, and hilarity follows. Greg from Yahoo Movies lists the premise as...

When the German pen pal that a high school student, Scott Thomas, has been using to help him get an "A" in German (by translating his homework over the Internet) for years suggests that they meet, the boy’s reaction is to freak out, thinking that "Mieke" is a) a guy and b) some sort of older sexual stalker, looking for a young boyfriend. When he discovers to his delight that his pen pal is actually a cute fraulein, he and his best friend, Cooper (who tries to con his summer internship boss into thinking he’s still in America), fly to Europe, accompanied by twins Jenny and Jamie, after graduation to meet her, in an exciting and sometimes wacky trip across Europe (London to Paris to Amsterdam), headed for Berlin...

Originally this movie was tentatively titled "The Ugly Americans," but Greg guessed that the reason it was tentative was because of the anti-American sentiments in some international markets, and the title was just asking for trouble. However this author suspects it’s more because the title it self portrays Americans in a bad light.

Back in February, DreamWorks announced three of the lead actors, Travis Wester, Michelle Trachtenberg and Jacob Pitts. "Americans" would be directed by first-time helmers Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer. The directing trio, credited with scripting Universal Pictures’ upcoming adaptation of "The Cat in the Hat," also penned "Americans."

Only days after the announcement, Michelle Trachtenberg appeared on the Caroline Rhea Show she told the host and viewers that "this summer I’m doing a movie in Prague. It’s going to be really hot. It’s a DreamWorks movie. About 4 high school seniors in Europe and all the high-jinks that ensue from that."

The FilmJerk website unveiled the descriptions of the lead characters the day after Michelle’s appearance on the Caroline Rhea Show...

Lead character Scotty Thomas: Quick-witted, earnest and likeable, the kind of guy you’d love to have as your best friend. Scotty is dumped by his girlfriend Fiona on his graduation day and she informs him that she has been cheating on him the entire time - apparently everybody knew this except Scotty.

Cooper: Scotty’s best friend is charming on the verge of cocky; you love him but sometimes you want to kill him. Witty and resourceful, the kind of guy who can talk everyone into trouble and then talk himself out of it. Cooper joins Scotty on his European adventure while managing to convince his boss at the law firm where he’s interning that he is, indeed, still at the office. Cooper’s one goal for the summer is to partake in some "Crazy European Sex," as he terms it, but is side-tracked from this goal after finally seeing his friend Jenny as not just one of the guys. From what I am reading, this is a character in the vein of Seann William Scott’s recent film personas.

Jamie and Jenny: Jamie is overly responsible, particular and a worrier. He and his fraternal twin Jenny are Scotty and Cooper’s childhood friends. While Jamie is the polar opposite of the rest of the foursome, he is still very much one of the gang. While spending the summer backpacking around Europe, he and Jenny accidentally run into Scotty and Cooper in Paris and decide to join their friends on their quest to find Scotty’s German pen pal. Jenny, on the other hand, is cute, energetic and fun but Scotty and Cooper see her only as one of the guys. Quick-witted and easygoing, it isn’t until she dons a bikini that the boys’ eyes are opened to her feminine nature and Cooper in particular takes great interest in her.

Mieke: A gorgeous German teenager, Mieke is distraught when Scotty mistakenly believes that she is a male stalker and cuts off all communication with her. She is further disappointed when she tries to contact him again but receives no response. What she doesn’t know is that Scotty is on his way to Germany to meet his dream girl. She, of course, speaks with a German accent.

Bert: Scotty’s younger brother, he is smart, funny and a bit of a brat - he takes pleasure in Scotty’s misfortune. Bert speaks much better German than his older brother and points out to him that Mieke is not the man in the picture Scotty has, but the incredibly cute girl. The name for the movie was changed in early November to Euro Trip and it’s official website was opened around the 20th of November. The site was simple featuring a logo with the new US release date of the 20th of February 2004. But soon the site boasted a Shockwave Flash file with snapshots from the movie, including a rather sexy looking Michelle Trachtenberg cooling off, a guy making out with two girls, and the three lead guys standing behind a sign seemingly naked.

Actors cast in the movie are...
Scott Mechlowicz (Scott Thomas)
Jacob Pitts (Cooper)
Michelle Trachtenberg (Jenny)
Travis Wester (Jamie)
Jessica Bohrs (Mieke)
Matt Damon (cameo)
Kristin Kreuk
Lucy Lawless (Madam Van der Sexx)
Joanna Lumley
Molly Schade (Candy)

The movie does seem a bit reminiscent of films such as "Road Trip" (from the same executive producers as Euro Trip) and the "American Pie" series. However with drawing cards such as the beauty of Michelle Trachtenberg, the comedic talents of writers Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer, and the scenery of Europe, I think the movie will be a massive hit, hopefully as big a hit as the "American Pie" movies.

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By The Bard