See more movie reviews

American Pie Presents: The Book of Love (NR)

common sense media says

Crude, charmless, and very disrespectful of women. Ugh.

parents & educators say
See all 6 reviews | Review it

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this direct-to-DVD unrated addition to the American Pie series has none of the innocence of the first two movies. In fact, for a movie that stars three guys who are supposedly virgins at the start, there's an incredible amount of sexual content (oral sex, naked fantasies, masturbation, prostitutes, porn-viewing, and so on). Parents are not able to control their kids who drink in excess among other things, and the "respect women" advice the teens are given is coming from men who clearly don't respect women. Not only is this DVD lewd and crude with language that would make a sailor blush, but it could do some damage to healthy teenage psyches where healthy sexual development is concerned.

Positive messages: A hypocritical attempt on the part of the older guys -- including Jim's dad -- who wrote The Book of Love to "try to be respectful" to women. Meanwhile, these men speak about their wives and partners in very lewd and disrespectful ways. One man tells his girlfriend to "shut the f--k up." Disturbing messages about teenage sex and sexual behavior. Crude behavior (telling a girl to "suck me off in the Sharper Image," to which the girl says OK) and dirty tricks (pouring beer down girls' tops at a party, which the girls somehow think is funny). Extremely lewd comments about a character's mother are told before a church assembly.
Positive role models: A teacher draws dirty pictures of students and fellow teachers. Older men in the community who tell high school boys about their sexual escapades (Dutch "nymphos" in Amsterdam, for example.)  Men are encouraging kids to do things like "stick your fingers in her ass," while having sex. Rob's mom has zero control over her sons. She watches videos of her son doing inappropriate things and does not think to punish him.
Violence: Sexual violence, including banging a woman on the head with a telephone after she dies giving Rob fellatio. Violent and crude language used against women and girls.
Sex: The first scene involves Rob masturbating with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which his dog licks off of him, while his little brother tapes it. Lots of nasty sexual discourse involving all manners of teens having sex. Rob gets a hand job in the fitting room of a lingerie store and gives the sperm-stained panties to the clerk. Boys encourage girls to kiss while filming it at a dance. Nathan is shown performing oral sex on his girlfriend. Lots of naked fantasies shown, with girls' shirts taken off while they are talking. Even teachers are shown fantasizing about their students and fellow teachers. Rob vomits on a girl who is naked, on all fours, before they have sex. An aged prostitute dies while giving Rob oral sex. His friends knock her about to try to dislodge her.
Language: The list is long and tawdry. First scene has Rob watching porn and listening to actors talk about sex, including the words, "nipples," "ass," and "f--k." Plus:  "Douchebag," "fluteskin," "p---y," "f--k off," "jacking off," "c--k," "blow," "blowing some dude," "fluffer," "g-spot," "asshole," "poonslayers," "f--k it," "f--k this," "bulls--t," "butt nugget," "d--kface," "t-ts," etc...
Consumerism: Rob is forced to buy lingerie that he has soiled with body fluid. Sharper Image and Facebook.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Teenage drinking to excess. Mom says she can't stop her teenage son from drinking, but "don't drive," she insists. Rob vomits on a naked girl because he's so drunk. Some cigarette smoking.
Our ratings and reviews are informed by child development guidelines. Learn more.

More on American Pie Presents: The Book of Love

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
  • Families can talk about boundaries on the Internet. Rob watches porn as if it is as normal and everyday as eating a PB&J sandwich. How does your family deal with Internet boundaries? Here are some tips about how to make browsing the Web safe and appropriate for all members of the family.
  • Sex is on the mind of teens naturally enough. But all of the media that encourages sexual activity can lead to very irresponsible behavior. This article has some eye-opening stats about how sex in media directly affects kids and teens.
  • How are girls and women portrayed in this movie? Why do they need to be respected? Why wouldn't they be respected in the first place? Who are the female role-models in this movie? Are they prey to the lewd behavior of the males, or are they respected?
  • A lot of  "sexting" goes on in this movie. One character asks girls to kiss for a video he wants to post on his "sit-on-my Facebook page." Even Rob's mom sees videos of her son engaged in inappropriate sexual acts. Here is some advice about keeping teens safe in a digital world where privacy is a thing of the past.

What's the story?

What's the story?
The first scene has Rob (Bug Hall) engaging in a sexual act with a sandwich. His brother films this act, and sends it viral so that the entire school (and his mother) see it. No matter, he's a guy after all, and guys just wanna have sex, right? According to this movie, that's all that's on their minds. Rob's pal Nathan (Kevin H. Norton) is trying to get to home base with his girlfriend, and Lube (Brandon Hardesty) has a mad crush on a cheerleader, who he has graphic fantasies about.  When a fire in the library causes the sprinkler system to go off, Rob discovers a handmade book that describes in detail every aspect of sexual encounters. The boys use this "bible" to try to get "laid"-- even going to Canada to get it on with a prostitute -- and when the book fails them, they contact the original authors of the book. It ends up that these authors include Jim's dad, Mr. Levenstein (Eugene Levy), who tells the boys to "treat a girl with respect, and whatever happens is meant to happen." Yeah, right.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 
This movie does a dangerous thing: it tries to add the word "respect" to an irreparable trail of damage. After the boys have said and done many lewd things, the adult men in the movie tell them to be honest with women, as they talk about various anal sex techniques, or favorite foods with which to masturbate. Is this funny? No, it's not really funny, it's twisted. Watching Rob's mom view a video of her son vomiting on a girl he is about to have sex with is disturbing enough. The fact that the mom doesn't think to talk about consequences is mind-blowing. Three words: not for kids.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: John Putch
Cast: Bug Hall, Eugene Levy, Rosanna Arquette
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 93 minutes
DVD release: December 22, 2009
MPAA Rating: NR
This review was written by Joly Herman
 
 

Review It

 

Review American Pie Presents: The Book of Love

Hang on! You need to be a member to post your review.
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines.
 

Most useful reviews by all members

momo90052
teen, 13 years old
15
 
Perfect for older kids, but not for tweens
It's terrible to me
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (5) | had useful details (9) | read my mind (8)
solar_system_118
adult
17
 
What. The. Heck.
THIS WAS ******* WRONG.
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (7) | had useful details (9) | read my mind (6)
amandaluvsyooh
teen, 15 years old
17
 
bad for everyone unless youre a sicko
Kid friendly? NOOOO!
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (7) | had useful details (7) | read my mind (7)
djdfjyururjfdj ...
teen, 17 years old
2
 
great for the whole family!
I think that it is a great film that the whole family will love! Very kid friendly!
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (9) | had useful details (6) | read my mind (6)
Swit Swat
kid, 12 years old
17
 
WT-FREAK?! WHY?!
Ok, first of all, let me get something straight, I have never watched this movie because I am not like some people who watch porn every night or watch these kind of movies. By reading the review, I conclude that no one should watch this! Terrible! Another trick attempted by Satan to make you watch these bad videos and do bad stuff! Oh and the person below me is dumb. No offense, but how could you let your one year old son watch this?! O_O For all you morons who like this crap, you might as well put yourself in jail.
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (5) | had useful details (5) | read my mind (10)
Nuno17xD
adult
16
 
Foor stupid older teens ,,,
Worst movie ever ! :D
Flag as inappropriate 
was this review useful?
helped me decide (6) | had useful details (6) | read my mind (6)

More reviews ...

An independent voice for families
Age-appropriate reviews
Advice on the big issues
 

vote now

Will you see American Pie Presents: The Book of Love?

Won't miss it
On the fence
No way

Already seen it? What do you think?

I recommend it
It's a pass
 

Great alternatives handpicked by our editors

Cleaner choices for older teens
For kids who love high school comedies
Browse more movies
About our rating system
ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child, some content may not be right for some kids
OFF: Not age appropriate for kids this age
Our child development rating guidelines