Road Trip
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- This page refers to the film Road Trip. For the video game, see Choro Q HG 2
- This page refers to the film Road Trip. For an article about road trips, see Road trip
| Road Trip | |
|---|---|
 Road Trip film poster |
|
| Directed by | Todd Phillips |
| Produced by | Joe Medjuck Daniel Goldberg |
| Written by | Todd Phillips Scott Armstrong |
| Starring | Breckin Meyer Seann William Scott Amy Smart Paulo Costanzo DJ Qualls Tom Green |
| Distributed by | DreamWorks |
| Release date(s) | 11 May 2000 |
| Running time | 93 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~ US$15,600,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Road Trip is a 2000 comedy film written by Todd Phillips and Scott Armstrong and directed by Todd Phillips. The film was based on life experiences by Todd Phillips and did quite well at the box office when it was released in 2000. A sequel was planned, but was later canceled by DreamWorks. EuroTrip is vastly similar and considered as sort of a rethinking of this movie, being it was made by the same people.
- Tagline: The greatest college tradition of all.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Breckin Meyer | Josh Parker |
| Seann William Scott | E.L. |
| Amy Smart | Beth Wagner |
| Fred Ward | Earl Edwards |
| Paulo Costanzo | Rubin Carver |
| DJ Qualls | Kyle Edwards |
| Tom Green | Barry Manilow |
| Rachel Blanchard | Tiffany Henderson |
| Anthony Rapp | Jacob |
| Andy Dick | The Motel Clerk |
| Ethan Suplee | Ed |
[edit] Story summary
The film begins at the fictional University of Ithaca with Barry Manilow (Green) giving a tour around the campus to a crowd of disinterested individuals.
Eventually one of the tour members questions whether anything interesting happens at the university. Manilow begins to tell them about his friend, Josh Parker (Meyer), a university student who had been continuously faithful to his long-distance love Tiffany (Blanchard), who was studying at vet school in Austin, Texas. Simultaneously, he's also attracted to the lusty Beth (Smart), a fellow classmate who takes a liking to him. Cajoled into attending a party being held by his hedonistic friend, E.L. (Scott), Josh ends up buying Beth's company in a student auction to save her from a date with a teaching assistant, Jacob (Rapp), who is unhealthily infatuated with her. Their night together ends with videotaped sex.
Unfortunately, the sex tape is mistakenly mailed to Josh's girlfriend Tiffany. With E.L., brainy roommate Rubin (Costanzo), and unpopular, unsuspecting nerd Kyle (Qualls), Josh embarks on an urgent road trip to get the telltale tape before it reaches Tiffany's VCR.
[edit] Plot details
It's important to note the film takes place in two separate times; the tour and the timeframe of the Josh/Tiffany story Barry is retelling to his tour group. Most of the film, however, takes place in the Josh/Tiffany story timeframe.
[edit] Barry's tour
The film opens with Barry giving a tour to a group of prospective students and their parents. It is obvious Barry is making up most, if not all, of the information he is giving the tour members. For example, he claims the library he shows the group was built in the 1600s, when a date on the building clearly reads "1951." Barry's explanation of this discrepancy is that "1951" is the building's address.
Eventually one of the tour group's members becomes fed up with him and asks if anything interesting ever happens at the University of Ithaca. This prompts Barry to begin to tell the story of his friend Josh and his girlfriend Tiffany. It is unable to say if the story about Josh and Tiffany ever actually happened or if it was just a way to get the tour group interested in the University.
During this sequence, Barry says he has been attending the University of Ithaca for eight years.
[edit] Josh and Tiffany
Barry explains, over a series of flashback clips meant to look like home movies, how Josh and Tiffany have been friends since they were young. What began as a simple childhood friendship eventually became a romantic relationship. However, the two faced, as Barry puts it, their "most challenging challenge yet" when Josh enrolled at Ithaca University and Tiffany went off to the fictional University of Austin (which is often said to be based on the real-life University of Texas at Austin).
After this series of flashbacks, the story fades into a nightmare Josh is having about Tiffany cheating on him with a fellow student. Right after Tiffany and her new boyfriend begin kissing, Josh wakes up abruptly and calls Tiffany, leaving a message for her (according to the timeline established by the story, it is Thursday morning). He then films a videotaped message to her, something he has apparently done in the past. While filming this, Josh's friends Rubin and Barry enter and we learn Rubin has a pet snake named Mitch, which can only be fed once a week. It becomes clear Barry has a strange fascination with feeding the snake. At this point, Josh realizes he is late for class and, rushing out, he asks Rubin to mail the videotape to Tiffany.
[edit] Philosophy class
While running to class, Josh runs into Beth, a student he apparently has met before and who obviously has a crush on him. After this, Beth is accosted by Jacob, a philosophy teaching assistant who has an unhealthy obsession with Beth. We then learn the class Josh was rushing to was a philosophy class that Jacob is the teaching assistant for. During the class, we learn a major test is coming up, which will be extremely difficult — consisting entirely of essays and covering all material taught.
After class, Jacob confronts Josh for "hitting" on Beth when the philosophy professor, Professor Anderson (Wendell B. Harris Jr.), comes by and we learn Josh needs a B+ to pass the course. After this, Josh meets up with his friend, E.L., who encourages him to cheat. During this conversation, we also learn Josh is in danger of losing his financial aid and could have to leave college. E.L.'s response is to encourage Josh to ignore the test and hook up with Beth that night and enjoy his last week of college. Josh argues that he's "invested" in his relationship with Tiffany and doesn't want to cheat on her with Beth. E.L., who, in response to Josh's "invested" comment, asks if he's "Charles Schwab," reveals his desires to have sex with Beth. E.L. continues to make fun of Josh's commitment to Tiffany while Josh makes another call to Tiffany, when he learns Tiffany hasn't been staying at her dorm, creating more concern in Josh's mind.
[edit] The party
That night at E.L.'s party, we learn of Rubin's passion for marijuana and that E.L. has planned an auction of girls. Meanwhile, Barry is elsewhere, presumably in a bedroom in the same house the party is taking place, convincing two girls to experiment sexually with each other and him.
At the auction, E.L., who is serving as auctioneer, claims a "purchase" does not constitute sexual relations. Before her auction comes up, Beth asks Josh to be sure to outbid Jacob, who is also at the party. Josh is eventually able to win the auction, with a little help from E.L. who ignores Jacob's high bids, and ends up dancing with Beth and bringing her back to his room.
[edit] The videotape
Back at his room, Beth learns about Tiffany, who Josh tells her he has broken up with. Beth quickly begins to seduce Josh, eventually bringing out Josh's video camera and "interviewing" him about what he looks for in a girl. As the interview progresses, Beth begins stripping and kissing Josh. At this point, the scene fades out and we are left to assume the two have sex.
The next morning, Friday, opens with Barry and E.L. singing a song before Josh enters after having taken a shower. Rubin, who is also in the room, E.L. and Barry notice Josh is in an unusually good mood and Josh reveals he had sex with Beth twice the previous night and once that morning.
[edit] The trip
Josh then decides to travel to Austin to get the videotape before Tiffany returns home from her grandfather's funeral in three days. E.L. says he will accompany Josh on the trip and the two go in search of Kyle, a nerd who lives in their dorm. The two apparently interrupt Kyle while he is masturbating and sweet-talk him into letting them borrow his car.
Kyle is, as E.L. says, a "sissy" and is very reluctant to let E.L. and Josh take the car, saying he needs to check with his father first. Eventually, Josh is able to convince Kyle by inviting him along on the trip. Next we learn Rubin is also planning to come on the trip, but Barry decides to stay in Ithaca, apparently because is his afraid to go anywhere. Rubin charges Barry with feeding his snake when the group is gone.
At this point, the film returns to the tour group. Presumably, Barry has been telling the story while walking around campus, and the group is seated in a large stadium listening to Barry. At this point, Barry attempts to wrap up the story by simply saying "it was a killer journey to say the least, and one that changed them all forever. The end." Barry then tries to resume the tour, but several members of the group object and push him to finish the story.
The film now picks up with a montage of Josh, E.L., Rubin and Kyle driving in the car. During this portion of the trip, E.L. tries to get Josh to describe the sex tape and the two discuss why Josh feels so guilty about having sex with Beth. E.L. explains how what Josh did wasn't actually cheating because Josh and Tiffany were "in different area codes." Rubin agrees with this theory, adding that being with two girls isn't cheating because the two "cancel each other out." E.L. adds that "if you're too drunk to remember," it's not cheating because "you can't be sure it ever took place." Kyle, however, seems to disagree, until he suggests "it's not cheating if you spread peanut butter all over your testicles and let your dog lick it off ... you know, because it's your dog." Rubin, Josh and E.L. all react to this with disgust.
Beth goes to look for Josh in his room after he leaves, and only Barry is there. After being asked where Josh went, Barry tells her he went to "Austin, Massachusetts." Beth corrects him and is left believing Josh went to Boston.
[edit] Barry's fantasy
The movie then cuts to a scene with Beth talking with an unnamed girl in a locker room. The girl is topless and the two are discussing how Josh lied to her about his relationship with Tiffany. Then, in the middle of the scene, the movie abruptly cuts back to the tour group, still seated around Barry in the stadium. One of the girls on the tour objects to this part of the story, saying "girls don't just stand around naked." Barry quickly quiets her and continues describing more nude girls in the locker room, much to the pleasure of the males in the tour group. The scene cuts back to more naked and topless girls walking around the locker room, while Beth, who is fully-clothed, discusses males' obsession with sex. While the two talk, the camera pans around the room, focusing on various girls' breasts and buttocks and showing two girls in the shower together (although this last bit is only in the Unrated Version on DVD).
At the end of the conversation, one of the girls encourages Beth to find Tiffany and reveal that Josh cheated.
It is unclear if this scene is just a product of Barry's imagination or actually occurred. It seems likely, however, that Beth did have this conversation with some of her female friends, but Barry is embellishing what happened by adding the nudity for his own sexual gratification.
[edit] The trip continues
We now rejoin Josh, E.L., Rubin and Kyle, who are shopping for supplies at Target. E.L. convinces Kyle to let them use his credit card, which Kyle says his father gave him for "emergencies only." The film then features another collection of traveling montages, picking up with the boys on what they believe is a shortcut that will save them five hours. However, they end up encountering a washed out bridge. Rubin, who apparently has a background in physics, believes they can clear the span in car if they drive 60 mph. Kyle objects, and E.L. tries to convince him they can make it by spitting over the span. When E.L.'s spit hits the opposite side of the bridge, an additional section of the bridge collapses. Rubin revises his calculation, saying they need to go 75 mph.
The boys decide to try going over the water in the car by backing up and approaching the bridge going very fast, giving them the trajectory needed to clear the water. In what is apparently a script error, Rubin tells E.L., who is driving, that he needs to hit 60 mph, even though Rubin had just calculated a required speed of 75 mph. Incidentially, Kyle's car is a powder blue, first-generation Ford Taurus.
They make it across, but the car's wheels collapse, making it useless. They foursome get out, and immediately after Rubin assures Josh the damage will be easy to repair and that they will be able to resume their trip soon, the entire car explodes.
Meanwhile, Beth is on a bus traveling to Boston. She is having a conversation with another woman, who advises her never to trust a man. Beth asks if there is any hope and the woman gives her a vibrator.
Josh, E.L., Rubin and Kyle, having walked from the accident scene to a motel, are discussing the fact they almost died. Rubin tells the group he feels destined to do something great and needs to be more careful. The boys check into a motel for Friday night. The next morning Rubin goes into the hotel office, where he asks the clerk (Andy Dick) if he can purchase any marijuana. The clerk responds in an unusual, and likely sarcastic, way, saying he doesn't have any marijuana but could have an 11-year-old prostitute sent to their room, he could "off" a person for him, or he could "start small" with a fresh towel, saying he could perhaps "roll that up and smoke it". As Rubin leaves, the clerk tells him Kyle's credit card has been "maxed out."
[edit] Kyle's parents
At this point, we meet Kyle's parents, Earl and Cookie (Fred Ward and Patricia Gaul). Kyle's father is an overbearing and nasty man, while Kyle's mother seems to be quiet and submissive. The two are eating breakfast Saturday morning when they learn Kyle's credit card has reached its limit.
The movie cuts quickly back to the hotel for a brief scene between E.L. and Rubin, who are discussing their financial problem and lack of a vehicle.
We then rejoin Kyle's parents, who have just been approached by a police officer who informs them Kyle's car has been found in Bedford, Pennsylvania and that Kyle is missing from the University of Ithaca.
[edit] A bus and breakfast
E.L. goes to a school for the blind and tricks the blind office clerk to give him the keys to one of the school's buses. E.L. begins feeding the clerk's seeing eye dog licorice. Much to E.L.'s confusion, the clerk scolds him for feeding her dog and rolling his eyes, despite the fact she can't see him. He then tries waving his hands in front of her face and, apparently sensing his rudeness, she gives E.L. the finger.
The movie then cuts to Kyle, Rubin and Josh having breakfast at a restaurant. The waiter, (Horatio Sanz), gives Kyle an order of French toast with powdered sugar. Kyle asks for another order, saying he can't have too much sugar in the morning. The waiter, who seems very polite and accommodating to the boys, takes back the food and, back in the kitchen, licks the toast and puts it inside his pants while walking around in an attempt to defile the food. He then redelivers the food to the unsuspecting Kyle, who heartily eats it.
At this point, E.L. arrives with the stolen bus and the trip continues through another travel montage.
At one point Kyle asks E.L. if they can stop. E.L. jokingly denies the request, and then tells Kyle he needs to be more assertive and stand up for himself more. Kyle reveals his father's strictness has played a key role in the way he is.
[edit] Feeding time
Back in Ithaca, it is Saturday morning and Barry feeds Rubin's snake the mouse he selected last night. For some reason, the snake doesn't eat the mouse, much to Barry's disappointment.
The movie then cuts to the foursome, with Josh calling Professor Anderson's office. Jacob, the teaching assistant, answers the phone and, upon learning it's Josh, pretends to be Professor Anderson. Mimicking Professor Anderson's deep voice, Jacob proceeds to grant Josh an extension on his midterm, with no intention of informing anyone. Professor Anderson enters the office just as Jacob hangs up with Josh. Jacob explains, initially forgetting to drop his Professor Anderson voice, that Josh was just calling to confirm the time of the exam.
Back at the collapsed bridge, a group of police officers are investigating the scene of the car explosion with Kyle's parents. During this satirical scene, a police photographer tells them, despite having no evidence to base his assumption on, that someone was raped and murdered at the scene, causing Kyle's father much consternation. Another investigator tells Kyle's father there's no evidence of a struggle and that he hasn't found a "single drop of semen yet."
[edit] Tiffany Henderson
Beth, meanwhile, arrives in Boston "(not Austin)" as the on-screen lettering tells us and tracks down who she believes is Josh's girlfriend Tiffany. Beth then confesses she had sex with Josh and the girl she believes to be Tiffany leaves. Later we see her vandalizing her boyfriend's car and hitting him. However, it turns out the whole situation is a coincidence; the "Tiffany" Beth meets is just a girl with the same name as Josh's girlfriend.
Embarrassed, Beth then takes the bus home. While she's sleeping on the bus with her shoes off (and obviously barefoot), the man in the seat behind her (played by director Todd Phillips) attempts to suck her toes and then asks her if she would like a foot massage. Beth, who is very uncomfortable with this situation, rejects his advances, and also questions if there are "any guys out there who are just normal."
We then rejoin Barry at the snake cage, who is trying to persuade Josh's snake Mitch to eat the mouse.
[edit] The frat house
Josh, E.L., Rubin and Kyle arrive in Tennessee Saturday night and find a fraternity house of the fictional fraternity Xi Chi. Rubin says he knows the frat's handshake and uses this to persuade the brothers to let them in, saying they are from the Ithaca chapter. However, it turns out the fraternity is an African-American fraternity, and, since Josh, E.L., Rubin and Kyle are all white, they are painfully out of place and obviously not members of the fraternity as they had claimed.
Some of the brothers then come up, claiming to have found a Ku Klux Klan hood in Kyle's bag. The brothers appear to be on the verge of violence when Kyle faints. It turns out the entire incident was a joke and Josh, E.L., Rubin and Kyle are welcomed into the fraternity's party.
During the party, Kyle gets drunk and engages in rather hysterical dancing. While dancing, a heavy set African-American girl named Rhonda takes a liking to Kyle. The two then proceed to talk, where Kyle reveals he is a virgin. Rhonda takes him to a bedroom and the two have sex.
The next morning, Sunday, Josh, E.L., Rubin and Kyle leave the fraternity, though Josh, E.L. and Rubin can't figure out why Kyle has suddently become so mellow. E.L. questions him when they are back on the bus and Kyle pulls out a pair of unusually large cheetah-print underwear and reveals that he "boinked" Rhonda.
[edit] The sperm bank
At this point, Rubin discovers their cash supply is running low.
The boys visit a sperm bank in an attempt to make some money. At the sperm bank, an attractive nurse asks them a series of questions. First, she asks if any of them have done any drugs, including marijuana, in the past 36 hours. With this, Rubin is no longer eligible. Second, she asks if any of them have had sex or masturbated in the past 24 hours; that eliminates Kyle, who proudly announces in a loud voice, "I had sex last night. With a girl!'"
Josh and E.L. remain eligible and proceed to the donation rooms. Josh quickly enters his room, while E.L. asks the nurse if the sperm bank has any magazines featuring "Asian chicks". After she tells him no, he begins to hit on her. She responds by seeming as if she will help him with a sexual favor. However, it turns out she intends to perform a procedure called "milking the prostate" on him. She proceeds to insert her fingers into his anus to produce an anally-induced ejaculation. E.L., in a mixture of pleasure and pain, cries out so loudly the entire clinic can hear him. The nurse quickly produces an ejaculation and leaves.
The film now jumps back to Barry's tour group, now seated at an outdoor snack bar, for a quick scene where one of the mothers asks if milking the prostate is medically possible. Barry assures her it is and proceeds with the story.
By this time it's Sunday morning in Ithaca, one day after Barry first attempted to feed Mitch the snake. In his attempt to get Mitch to eat, he places the mouse in his mouth just as Beth walks in, questioning why he sent her to Boston. Then Jacob, who was following Beth, enters and tells her about how he lied to Josh about the exam extension.
Suddenly the snake attacks Barry, who, in an effort to get the snake off him, throws it across the room, where it wraps itself around Jacob.
[edit] Barry's grandparents
Barry reveals he had arranged for Josh, E.L., Rubin and Kyle to spend the night at his grandparents' house (Ellen Albertini Dow and Edmund Lyndeck), where he apparently isn't welcome since he set their dog on fire when he was 7. Walking up to the house, the guys learn Barry's last name is "Manilow," meaning his name is "Barry Manilow," just like the famous singer.
Barry's grandfather is watching a music video with young woman dancing, and when stands up, he has a very obvious erection.
We are now taken back to the hotel the boys spent the night at and the clerk, who is reading a magazine and watching the same music video Barry's grandfather is watching, is questioned by Kyle's father. Initially the clerk refuses to answer any questions, but once Kyle's father turns violent, he reveals the information Kyle's father wants. From the hotel bill, Kyle's mother sees the boys made two calls to Austin, and assumes they went there.
Back at Barry's grandparents', Rubin is in the yard smoking marijuana when Barry's grandfather comes out to join him, saying he can't sleep because of the Viagra he's taking, and proceeds to ask Rubin for a drag. Barry reveals that marijuana is his the only way he can escape from the stress he feels. Barry's grandfather tells Rubin he's "all brains; not enough cock and balls." Barry's grandfather then hallucinates the dog is talking to him.
Josh then awakes from another nightmare where Tiffany sees the videotape after her roommates try to cheer her up with what they believe to be another video message from him.
The next morning, Monday, the boys leave just as Barry's grandfather hallucinates that the dog is talking to him again.
[edit] Texas
The boys then arrive at the University of Austin at 8:52 a.m. and head to Tiffany's dorm, where they ask a student at the mailroom desk for her mail. He refuses and things turn violent when the mailroom clerk turns out to be a wrestler. He punches Kyle in the nose and attacks Josh. Rubin and E.L. then join in the fight as Kyle grabs a fire extinguisher and Josh jumps behind the desk and finds the videotape package. Campus security arrives, along with Kyle's parents and Tiffany. Kyle's father pulls out a gun and says he thought Kyle was kidnapped. Kyle and the boys claim his car and credit card were stolen. Kyle, showing his newly-found courage, stands up to his father, spraying him with the fire extinguisher.
Meanwhile, Josh and Tiffany go back to her room. Tiffany tells Josh she thinks they need to take advantage of being in college; just as E.L. had told Josh at the beginning of the movie. She also reveals that she cheated on Josh once when they were 14, but quickly adds it doesn't count because they were in different area codes, something else E.L. had told Josh about. At this point, Beth calls the room asking for Josh to warn him about the exam. While Josh is distracted with the phone call, Tiffany picks up the package and plays the tape. Josh turns around just as the tape begins to play and attempts to stop Tiffany from watching it. However, just as Beth steps into the frame, the picture cuts out and is replaced by Barry looking with fascination into the camera. Barry apparently had taped over the entire sex portion of the tape.
[edit] The midterm
The film then cuts back to Josh, E.L., Rubin and Kyle riding the bus back to Ithaca. We learn Josh broke up with Tiffany and now has 46 hours to get back in time for the midterm. E.L. questions why Josh didn't have sex with Tiffany one last time; but Josh says their relationship was too deep to do that. On the ride back, Rubin helps Josh study for his midterm using pro-wrestling to help Josh relate to the material. The guys arrive in front of Josh's classroom 57 minutes late. Josh runs into the building, only to be confronted by a bomb squad robot. Josh then learns the building was evacuated because of a bomb threat, and, once the incident is declared a false alarm, is able to take the midterm.
After the test, Beth catches up to him outside and reveals she called in the bomb threat since it was clear he wasn't going to be on-time for the exam. The two then begin making out and the film dissolves to Barry, back on the tour, making out with the same mother who asked him about milking the prostate.
[edit] Epilogue
Barry then segues into a series of epilogues for each character, where he reveals:
- Josh and Beth are still together and have over 70 hours worth of sex tapes, some of it for sale on eBay, where Barry has purchased it. As he explains this, we see Beth and Josh making out in a library in front of Josh's camera.
- Jacob left school to lead a cult in Iowa where he organized a mass suicide. However, Barry tells us Jacob was the first to drink the (poisoned) Kool-Aid and everyone else changed their minds. This is a reference to the infamous mass suicide committed by the Peoples Temple cult in 1978.
- Rubin went on to invent a highly-potent type of marijuana that is undetectable by drug tests and he is named "High Times" Man of the Year. During Rubin's epilogue, a short clip is played of the time he told Josh, E.L. and Kyle after the car exploded that "something tells me the people of Earth are going to need me."
- E.L. begins a serious relationship with a pre-med student, who is shown performing the "'milking the prostate' procedure" on him with two, then three, fingers.
- Kyle reconciled with his father and brought Rhonda home for Christmas. We see a clip of Rhonda hugging a shocked Earl, who's wearing a Santa hat, while Kyle's mother watches from the background.
Barry then wraps up the tour and encourages everyone to attend the University of Ithaca. In a striking reversal from the beginning of the film, it now seems all of the tour group are fascinated with Barry and the University of Ithaca; as the group breaks up, one of the students tells Barry, "I'll see you in the fall."
The film closes with the mother coming up to Barry and thanking him. The two then begin making out again while the mother's appalled son and the rest of the tour group watches in disbelief. As the credits begin to roll, we hear Barry say, "I'm humping your mommy."
[edit] Time in the movie
Based on the titles that appear on screen and scenes from the movie, the story apparently takes place from a Thursday to Wednesday. By using the titles and gauging when the boys sleep, one can figure that E.L.'s party was on a Thursday night. The boys leave for Texas the next day, Friday, spending Friday night at the motel. Saturday night is spent at the fraternity house, Sunday night at Barry's grandparents' and the boys arrive in Texas on a Monday. The final exam, as explained in the film, is on Wednesday (46 hours after the group leaves Austin).
Based on several things Barry says, the Josh/Tiffany story may have taken place about a year before the tour. While "experimenting" with the two girls, Barry indicates he's been attending the school for seven years, one less than the eight years he tells the tour group.
Assuming the actual road trip of the Josh/Tiffany story takes place during the Fall, it's very likely that it takes place during the Fall Semester 1998 of the 1998/99 academic year. Evidence for this happens when Josh and his friends encounter the mailroom clerk at the University of Austin, in which before their confrontation the mailroom clerk is speaking with someone on the phone about seaching the internet for Episode 1 spoilers, which we assume is "Star Wars: Episode I", which released the following Spring in May 1999. Assuming that Barry's tour takes place at least a year after the Josh/Tiffany story, the most likely possible timeframe of Barry's tour would be during the Spring of 2000.
[edit] Issues with time in the movie
It is unclear what class (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) Josh and his friends are in. Some lines seem to indicate Josh has graduated, or left the University of Ithaca, between the time the story took place and Barry's tour (On the tour, Barry says Josh "was enrolled" — in the past tense — at the school, but this could just be an error in the script or lines).
However, certain elements of the film seem to suggest Josh is a freshman, such as when he tells Beth he's still "getting used" to this whole "college thing." It also seems that Josh and Tiffany are relatively new at maintaining a long distance relationship and haven't been able to see each other on school breaks yet. The fact that Tiffany and Josh are still together could be a clue that the Josh and Tiffany are both freshmen in their first semester of school, since it's not uncommon for long-distance high school couples break up during their first semester of college.
Assuming all this is true, it would also make sense the Josh/Tiffany story takes place sometimes during the fall semester, likely October or November, since Josh is facing midterms.
However, it's important to note that if Josh was a freshman at the time the story took place, this would mean he either left school or the tour and the Josh/Tiffany story happened more than a year apart, meaning Barry's statements about how long he's been at the school aren't accurate; which is possible given his apparent loose ways with facts.
There is also no clear way to tell what class E.L., Rubin and Kyle are in. One might be able to assume Rubin and Josh are in the same class since they live together in a dormitory, though, at many schools, students from different classes live together. However, it would make sense to say Josh and Rubin are in the same class and are both freshmen since many schools only allow freshman to live with other freshmen.
It's also difficult to place what class Kyle is in. For starters, we can't be sure if Kyle lives in the same building as Rubin and Josh. It does seem clear he lives on a different floor, at the very least, or possibly, in an entirely different building, than Rubin and Josh because they take an elevator to get to his room. Since many colleges split dorms and floors into different classes, Kyle could be in a different class or simply live elsewhere and be the same class. Another clue, however, that might indicate Kyle is a sophomore, junior or senior is the fact he has a car on campus. Many colleges don't permit freshmen to have cars on campus. It is known from the dialogue between E.L. and Kyle before leaving on the trip that Kyle is 19 years old, which would normally place him as a sophomore.
E.L.'s class is also vague, though there are some indications that he is older than Josh (assuming Josh is a freshman), and possibly Rubin and Kyle. Most notably is the fact that it appears E.L. lives off campus in a house. Some schools don't permit lower-level classes to live off campus, though it's certainly possible E.L. is disobeying the rules. Interestingly, the real-life Ithaca College (which some believe the fictional University of Ithaca is based on) only allows seniors to live off campus, freshmen, sophomores and juniors must get approved for off-campus housing. E.L. also seems to offer other characters, particularly Josh, advice on being in college.
Despite all this, it is entirely possible all four main characters are in the same class, either freshman, sophomore, junior or senior, or each of them are in different classes. However, many of these scenarios would mean there are plot holes or continuity issues in the storyline.
There are no clues in the film as to what class Beth is in.
It does seems fairly clear that Josh and Tiffany are in the same class, though it could be argued that while it's clear they grew up together, they certainly could have been in different grades in school and, hence, gone to college at different times. Barry's narration never says the two both left for college the same year and the clips only show Tiffany leaving for college; making it possible she is older than Josh and left for college when he was still in high school. However, the story does make clear that the two grew up near Ithaca, and that Tiffany went far away to attend college while Josh attended the nearby Ithaca University, so Josh wouldn't be shown leaving for college as Tiffany was.
[edit] Trivia
- Nearly all of the college names featured in the film are mutations of actual college names. The University of Ithaca is likely meant as a spoof of Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. Ithaca was chosen as the site of the film because director Todd Phillips and writer Scott Armstrong are both alumni of the real-life Ithaca College. The name "Ithaca University" was used because college officials denied the use of its name to filmmakers. It is also possible that "University of Ithaca" is meant as a spoof of Cornell University, though Phillips' and Armstrong's connections to Ithaca College suggests it is more likely the University of Ithaca is meant to be Ithaca College. Other fake names include the University of Austin and the University of Boston (Boston College, Boston University and the University of Massachusetts Boston do exist, however.)[1].
- Much of the filming took place on the campuses of Georgia Tech, Emory University and the University of Georgia.
- The band Ween performed their song Voodoo Lady in one of the bus scenes.
- The university seen in a flyover in the opening scene is actually Harvard University. It is the same footage used in the movie Old School (2003).
- The city of Ithaca is not as lush and sunny as is depicted in the movie, especially if the story was taking place around mid-terms of the fall semester. Ithaca is known for being overcast much of the year and receiving early snowfall and having its trees' leaves change early in the fall.
- In several of the diner scenes, there are mugs with large lettering on them. Because of the curve of the mug, not all the letters are visible at any one time, but by piecing together the various shots, it could be inferred the words spell out "Gwinnett Diner." Gwinnett Diner is also visibly written on the glass door as the guys leave the Diner. The Gwinnett Diner is an actual diner, located on Highway 124 in Lawrenceville, Georgia, which is near the college campuses where much of the movie was filmed.
- At the beginning of the film, Barry tells the tour group Tiffany was studying to become a veterinarian. Coincidently, Cornell University, which is also located in Ithaca, has a famous and well-respected veterinary school.
- Though Rachel Blanchard is a natural blonde, she dyed her hair red for the movie so as to set her character apart from Amy Smart.
- The director of the film, Todd Phillips, has a cameo as the man who attempts to suck Beth's toes on the bus.
- The motel clerk (Andy Dick) reads an issue of Celebrity Skin magazine with Drew Barrymore on the cover. At the time, Drew Barrymore was engaged to Tom Green, who plays Barry.
- Though produced and directed by different people, Road Trip and Dude, Where's My Car? share not only four of the same actors (Seann William Scott, Andy Dick, Cleo King, and Mary Lynn Rajskub), but also the Ween song Voodoo Lady.
- The actors portraying Barry Manilow's grandparents, Edmund Lyndeck and Ellen Albertini Dow, have each appeared in films headlined by Adam Sandler: Lyndeck portrayed "Mr. Herlihy" in Big Daddy while Dow is known as the infamous rapping elderly woman in The Wedding Singer.
- Meyer and Smart would not only go on to co-star again in Rat Race, but would also have their characters wind up together by the end of the film (which itself is the story of a "road trip" of sorts).
- Fred Ward's character 'Earl' (Klye's dad) shares the same name as his character 'Earl Bassett' from the films Tremors and Tremors 2: Aftershocks.
