Breckin Meyer (Clueless, Go) stars as Josh, a student at the University of Ithaca. His longtime girlfriend is Tiffany (Rachel Blanchard); they've been together since childhood, but she attends college in Texas. One night, Josh gives into temptation and has sex with Beth (Amy Smart), a friend with whom he has been carrying on a heretofore innocent flirtation. Their lovemaking is caught on videotape and the cassette is accidentally mailed to Tiffany. Afraid of the implications, Josh sets out to intercept the tape before it reaches his girlfriend's hands. Accompanying him on the journey are the eternally horny E.L. (American Pie's Seann William Scott), the pot-smoking academic Rubin ( Paulo Costanzo) and the geeky Kyle (DJ Qualles).

Tom Green and friend stay home from a Road Trip

One person who does not make the trip is Barry (MTV's Tom Green), a perpetual student with a series of personality quirks. Barry is that guy (most colleges have one) who believes he can prolong adolescence by just staying in school. He has no real ambition in the world, other than to get drunk and have sex. He also wants to watch Rubin's snake swallow a mouse; when the snake doesn't comply, he demonstrates the idea personally. Road Trip employs a framing device in which Barry relates Josh's story to a group of potential students and their families. I once toured a campus where all the Christmas trees were decorated with beer cans. My horrified reaction was probably pretty similar to the one of the people here.

You can probably guess the kinds of mishaps the characters face: a car gets destroyed, the money runs out, the tape proves illusive. However, the story finds funny ways of presenting the same old material. The manner in which the car gets destroyed was humorously unexpected, as was the conversation about physics that preceded it. Another big laugh is revealed when the characters come up with a fund-raising scheme involving sperm donation. The old "plastic cup and porn" routine is hackneyed, but what happens next is utterly hilarious. I got a big belly laugh as...something happens that I've never seen happen in a movie before. Like the hair gel scene in There's Something About Mary, this will probably become a milestone in the grossout humor lexicon.

Road Trip is the kind of "slob comedy" that achieved popularity in the 1980's with titles such as Meatballs, Stripes, and Animal House. It doesn't have the gleefully anarchic spirit of the latter film, but it certainly has some of the same irreverence. Director and co-writer Todd Phillips (of the controversial, never-aired HBO documentary Frat House) isn't afraid to aim his jokes low. In fact, he's proud of it. A couple of scenes nearly had me disbelieving that anyone would attempt them (there's one in a black fraternity house, for example). By walking on the border of good taste, though, Phillips insures some gut-busting moments.

It is appropriate that he has chosen Green to co-star in the movie. Few comedians have the same passion for walking the high-wire as he does. Good, old-fashioned slob comedy requires pushing the envelope. While some dismiss it as "lowbrow humor," it is actually a kind of social commentary. By mocking taboos, slob comedies can make us reexamine our sacred cows. Don't get me wrong - I'm not proclaiming Road Trip a sociopolitical masterpiece; I'm merely suggesting that the movie (and its co-star) provide a glorious chance to see what happens when the envelope is pushed. There's a place for this kind of thing in the entertainment spectrum if it's done well, as it is here.

I think most audience members will not completely care if the tape is ever intercepted or not. In fact, most will figure out how the plot resolves itself long before it actually does. Like I said, this kind of thing has been done before. Regardless, someone once said that the journey itself is more enjoyable than actually reaching the destination. Road Trip may be a voyage to a familiar destination, but it gave me a lot of laughs along the way.

( out of four)

Road Trip is rated R for language, drug use, and sexual content including nudity. The running time is 1 hour and 34 minutes.