E-Mail This Article to a Friend EUROTRIP

As the commercial so prominently states, Eurotrip is from the producers of Road Trip, who have transplanted the plot of that success so their teenage leads can run amok on the Continent and reinforce every negative opinion Europeans have of Americans. This time around, four blandly appealing teens graduate from high school and head abroad for the summer. Scotty (Scott Mechlowicz) wants to hook up with his German pen pal; the other three just want to engage in some mildly amusing, mildly offensive fun. No one develops beyond his or her defining trait — the nerd, the sex-obsessed smart ass, the girl. But director Jeff Schaffer works at a relaxed pace, sometimes hitting the mark, sometimes not. Most of the jokes are aimed at the French, Italian, and German characters that show up in the film, but the stereotypes they make fun of are so old, they don’t have much sting. Instead, the laughs come from unexpected places — keep an eye out for a cameo by Matt Damon, who plays against type in a gag that develops a life of its own. When the filmmakers shake off the jet lag, the result is a trip worth taking. (92 minutes)