American Pie Presents: Girls' Rules (2020)

The fact that Eugene Levy didn't even appear in this one was already a bad sign. The director, Mike Elliott is known for direct to DVD movies, especially sequels, so the writing was on the wall there. The previous American Pie Presents: films aren't particularly good, but there was still an attempt to make something despite the lower budget. This film feels like a quota had to be met given that the last one of these sequels was produced in 2009.

The film runs at 95 minutes, and there really isn't that much of a story here so the review will follow the lead of the film and will be quick. The film follows sex curious Annie with her friends Stephanie Stifler, the badass of the group who just needs a good guy, Kayla, the wild control freak who doesn't trust her boyfriend who dumps her, and Michelle, the smart one with a collection of sex toys who masturbates to John F Kennedy speeches on their final year of high school. To  come to terms of what they are missing romantically, they make a pact to see their desires come true for MORP, a backward prom. Think Sadie Hawkins.

The forced feminist message that has been complained about in several female-centric films as of late is dialed up to 11 here, and yet it completely misses its point by having the main girl group lust after the same guy. This is something a male would imagine, so in that respect, it is an American Pie film. If a comedy film just wants to be what it is and not be about anything, that is just fine. I enjoy movies like that. The problem is this film is not funny at all. Several unfunny gags are repeated and the dialogue of many lines comes off as wooden. The set up for the opening scene is rushed and obvious.

It is a lazy and a watered-down installment of the franchise that I question the R rating. The opposite sex version of American Pie has a lot to prove to justify its existence, and this film just was not up to the task, despite the hard work the actors are putting into it. Maybe for a female version of American pie, you have women write and direct it. Just a thought. Booksmart (2019) received acclaim for a reason.

American Pie Presents: Girls' Rules is both cringey and generic with nothing there. It has a good case for being one of the worst films of the year.

1/10