Just how much emphasis does Phillips give individual gags over basic storytelling practices? I did not know Scott's character's name until the last scene, when narrator Barry (Tom Green), who recounts the story of the film to a campus tour group, tells the characters' fates. Green will undoubtedly be the main draw for the young MTV crowd, but not only is his screen time limited, Phillips and Armstrong don't find a smooth way to fit him into the film. The framing device of the tour has a weak payoff, and Barry's involvement in the main story--he has to feed Rubin's pet snake while the guys are away--is tangential at best. Not that the main story is all that great to begin with: just a series of uninspired gags, ranging from the gross (a sperm bank interlude) to the insulting (the white quartet is scared by a room full of black men--how funny and progressive). The trip would be more tolerable if this motley crew were fun to hang out with, but with the exception of Meyer (whom I've grown to like more with each film), the travelers are annoying. Scott's E.L. is basically _American_Pie_'s obnoxious Stifler with more screen time; the character of Rubin is nondescript and Costanzo personality-free; Qualls fails to command any sympathy as the token nerd. If you're tempted to watch _Road_Trip_ by the raucous trailer, be forewarned: it gives away nearly all of the film's better jokes.