Or perhaps Euro-Turd would be more appropriate. This film has quite a bit in common with said solid bowel movement. For instance, Eurotrip emits a few unexpected, humorous noises, and a couple of scenes inspire laughter of the Beavis and Butthead nature. The negative similarities to poo, however, far outnumber the good: Alec Berg and Dave Mandel’s juvenile romp can be loose and shapeless, the timing is not always so good, and as a whole, it stinks.

The story follows high school graduate Scott Thomas (Scott Mechlowicz), recently broken-hearted after a grad-night dumping at the hands of his hussy-girlfriend, as he treks through Europe looking for pin-pal/true-love Mieke (Jessice Boehrs). Accompanying Scott are wise-cracking, sex-starved sidekick Cooper (Jacob Pitts) and “the worst twins ever” Jenny (Michelle Trachtenberg) and Jamie (Travis Webster). Along the way they encounter all the stereotypical Europeans, from soccer hooligans, to snotty Frenchies, to down-on-their-luck Eastern Bloc gutter-dwellers. Wackiness abounds.

The advertising campaign for Eurotrip compares it to successful forefathers Roadtrip and Old School. What sets those prior films apart from this movie are a) heart, and b) focus. In those films you actually cared what happened to the central characters, all the while laughing to the point of sickness. Here, the film relies too much on stereotype-shtick (“hey, French people stink) and pointless shock-moments (here, a beach full of frontally-nude fat men). There is no order to the film.

There are no real stand-out acting jobs among the lot, but Jacob Pitts (K-19: The Widowmaker) does deserve some recognition. Despite the poor writing for his role as Cooper, Pitts shows potential as a smart-ass supporting actor. It is a weird combo of, say, Jason Lee and David Spade. The problem with his Eurotrip role is that the writers spent too much time setting up his “discovery of love” for the denouement.

Cameos by Matt Damon and Kristin Kruek (TV’s Smallville) can’t save this one. Although I am a sucker for Frenchmen being kicked in the nuts, Eurotrip fails to follow through. Spend the dinero to view this one, and you’ll see just how Frenchie feels.

Chuck Boring, 2003