I read recently somewhere that a critic once wrote, "there's no use saying 
what's already been said".  I'm paraphrasing I think, but this is how I remember 
the quote.

I trust most people who are going to read this have already seen the film.  Some 
think it's hysterical and consider it of 'Animal House' stature.  Others don't 
understand its fame.

Let me start by saying that when I first watched the movie, I hated it.  A 
thorough disappointment.  I still haven't completely gotten over that, but I've 
started to see why its so famous, and come to enjoy its characters, and humor.

'American Pie' is aimed at a teenage/college-age audience whose thoughts and 
worries about sex and virginity are still fresh.  There are unbelievable aspects 
to every character and situation in the flick, but beneath that there is an 
element of truth that speaks to young viewers, reminding us of our own fears and 
foibles.  Except for maybe Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), each of the main 
characters is an incarnation of the normal high school student.  Jim (Jason 
Biggs) is anyone who has ever had average looks and lived on the fringe of the 
cool scene.  He's the dork that adults try to forget they once were.  Chris "Oz" 
Ostreicher (Chris Klein) is just as average as Jim, except he's been gifted with 
some athletic skill.  Being on the lacrosse team has sucked him in to a social 
scene and molded him into a person that doesn't really fit his personality.   
Anyone who's opened there eyes one day surrounded by friends and found them self 
all alone can relate to his character at least tangentially.  Kevin (Thomas Ian 
Nicholas) is what Jim may have been had he gotten a girlfriend a year or so 
before the movie started.  Kevin and Vicky's (Tara Reid) relationship is a 
frustrating but fairly accurate depiction of a high school relationship at the 
cusp of sex.

Eh, I'm done ranting about why 'American Pie' speaks to the millennial young 
men.  If you're one of us, you know.  If you're not, well, if you can see 
through the ridiculousness of 'American Pie' you might be able to glean a little 
bit about the way we deal with sex and virginity.   Then see 'Animal House' and 
be pissed that 'American Pie' wasn't that funny.