American Pie Presents: The Book of Love

Movie review by Joly Herman, Common Sense Media
American Pie Presents: The Book of Love Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 18+

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

NR 2009 93 minutes
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Parents say

age 18+

Based on 2 reviews

Kids say

age 16+

Based on 8 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

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.

Community Reviews

funny1833
funny1833 Adult
December 4, 2020
age 18+

vile and offensive

I watched the trailer and right then I knew it wasn't for anybody no matter how much they say it is. While let's just get to it shall we rob (the protaganist) is talking to this girl. rob gets distracted and looks at her cleavage while not just hat but then he looks down her cleavage. I don't have a problem with raunchy movies but I do with raunchy films such as this in it.

This title has:

Too much sex
george512
george512 Adult
October 12, 2014
age 17+

Not For Kids if you know what I really mean.

American Pie Presents: The Book of Love Review. Look at the Title with the word Love. However this movie is NOT a love story. So I have this to say. Messages - Graded F - This is not good at all. Role Models - Graded F Again - Again not even that's good. That's really bad. S & V put together because is Degrading Women and that's a bad thing and both get a D Grade - F Grade. What an Epic Fail Film with drug and drinking. This film should be Rated NC-17 for Video Only and never allowed to advertise it back in 2009.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 2 parent reviews

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?

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.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • 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.

Movie Details

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