The series goes on, but hopefully next time brings a better story
Anyone that has watched the films in this series since the beginning (American Pie - Unrated (Widescreen Collector's Edition)) is going to inevitably rate this film in comparison to the other films. The first film, much like another film of that same general era (The Matrix (10th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]) was somewhat ground breaking. It was raw, crude, lewd, and really, really funny thanks to being so lewd and crude. The later films in the series have had that bar to jump over and some have been mildly successful (American Pie Presents - The Naked Mile) while others have been merely amusing. This particular film (Book of Love) seems to fall into that range with nothing to really push it towards a higher rating. For me, I think I'd have to put this one into the...
This is really going down hill.
The AMERICAN PIE series is by far my favorite group of comedy films so I hate to say that BOOK OF LOVE is a bad film but it really is. Certainly none of these films are CITIZEN KANE but they have all had some funny gags, likeable and attractive characters and fairly decent scripts (the first four in particular). Sadly this group of actors (who are supposed to be in high school but look to be in their late twenties) can't even pull off this lame material which includes screwing a peanut butter sandwich, oral sex from the family dog and the "Stiffler" character getting plowed in the rear by a CGI moose. All of the characters are unpleasent for the most part (although Ms. Arquett does a decent job). There is really no one to identify with in this film. This time around no attempt is made to link Stiffler with his previous onscreen relatives and his character amounts to little more than a cameo. Even Eugene Levy phones it in on this one. The entire premise of the film is also...
Skip the film, watch the extras, great Blu quality
Once again Universal dumps the high end cameras and transfer into one of their franchises, so the resulting Blu picture and sound are flawless, but in a film that does not qualify. The DTS was mixed perfectly, especially in each fantasy sequence the music didn't drown anything out. The picture was crystal enough to see every pore and flesh tone - and there is a great deal of that. Aside from the cameos and fun fantasy sequences, the movie is forgettable, but the supplements are fun and worth the watch, including:
* Making of, 8:00 minutes. Director intros with how he dislikes the usual fare so this and all of the others could have been one long documentary of gags, outtakes and fun on the set. This one covers some brief interviews and gags.
* Love Manual, 5:50 minutes. The hot girls from the movie and some of the cameo guys give their take on how to get with ladies.
* Trivia. One of the cast goes around the set and tests people's memory on some good American Pie...
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