''National Lampoon's Senior Trip'' is a 1995 American

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

for the National Lampoon magazine franchise, directed by

Kelly Makin Kelly Makin is a Canadian television and film director. He directed episodes of '' The Kids in the Hall'' comedy television series and also directed several episodes of '' Queer as Folk'' including the series finale. More recently, Makin has dir ...

. It marked

Jeremy Renner Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career by appearing in independent films such as ''Dahmer (film), Dahmer'' (2002) and ''Neo Ned'' (2005), then supporting roles in bigger films, such as ''S.W.A.T. (20 ...

's film debut.

Plot

At Fairmount High School,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

in the suburbs of

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, a group of teenage students begin their school day with an assembly featuring a band called "High on Life". As the band continues to play onstage, Mark "Dags" D'Agastino and Reggie Barry decide to sabotage the assembly by exposing the band for lip syncing. After a typing class (during which the teacher suffers a heart attack and dies), the seniors cut school and throw a party at Principal Moss' house. Moss finds out about the party from student body president Steve Nisser. He returns home and catches them, then gives the group detention, during which he forces them to write a letter to the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

, explaining what is wrong with the education system. The next day various newspaper station vans show up at the school with the announcement that the President, amazingly, enjoyed their letter, and has invited them to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to discuss it. In reality, the invitation is a plot devised by the corrupt

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Lerman to humiliate the President. The trip underway, the bus stops at a convenience store, where Dags and Reggie lock Moss in a flooded washroom, and they steal alcoholic beverages. They are pursued by Travis, a crazed ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' fan and crossing guard, who hitches a ride with an Asian family. Principal Moss falls into a deep sleep after taking pills given to him by bus driver Red. With Moss passed out, the students throw a party on the bus, and Carla Morgan, the school

slut ''Slut (archaic: slattern)'' is an English-language term for a person, usually a woman, who is sexually promiscuous or considered to have loose sexual morals. It is predominately used as an insult, sexual slur or offensive term of disparageme ...

, applies

makeup Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources or created sy ...

to the unconscious Moss. The next day, as the bus is pursued by Travis and the police, Red, the driver, dies from an apparent

drug overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. Retrieved on September 20, 2014.

, and the bus nearly plows into a lake. Dags manages to stop the bus in time, but the pursuers' car lands in the water and Travis escapes. Arriving at Washington, the group checks into a hotel and decides to take a class photo at a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

. Miosky lights a fart on

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American attorney and law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau o ...

's flame to distract Travis. That night, the seniors secretly lace a box of

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

s with

tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands (''Los Altos (Jal ...

and give it to the chaperone, Miss Milford. Under the influence, Milford seduces Moss. The students seize this opportunity to crash a party at the hotel next door. When Steve Nisser threatens to blow the whistle, Dags orders Miosky to "take care of him". While the other students enjoy the party, Lisa Perkins takes Dags to the rooftop where she seduces him. The next day, she discovers the plot to use the students to embarrass the President. Senator Lerman surprises Moss and Milford, who wake up, shocked at finding themselves in a room together. When they go to collect the group for their meeting with the President, they find only a trussed-up Steve Nisser. Moss and Milford locate the missing students, and are informed of Lerman's plot. The senator kidnaps Miosky and takes him to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

with the others in hot pursuit. At the White House, when the senator makes insulting remarks about the seniors, Principal Moss, in spite of everything, unexpectedly stands up for them. The senator's plot is exposed, and the seniors return home. The film ends with a montage of the characters, telling where they end up in later life.

Cast

Production

The Winchester Hotel in

Cabbagetown, Toronto Cabbagetown is a neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Administratively, it is defined as part of the Cabbagetown-South St. Jamestown neighbourhood. It largely features semi-detached Victorian houses and is recognized as "the largest ...

is the exterior of the hotel they stay at in D.C..

Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has over 30,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. Th ...

not

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording ...

and

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC; ) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assist ...

not

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

receive credit.

Reception

Box office

The film opened to $2,184,901 from 1,397 theaters with an average of $1,563 per site. The United States generated $3,686,337, 78% of the total gross of the film. The overseas gross was $1,000,600, bringing the worldwide total to $4,686,937.

Critical response

The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews, earning a 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes website, but it currently holds a B grade at Yahoo! Movies.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:National Lampoon's Senior Trip 1995 films 1990s adventure comedy films 1990s comedy road movies American adventure comedy films American comedy road movies 1990s English-language films Films about alcoholism Films set in Ohio Films set in Washington, D.C. National Lampoon films 1990s teen comedy films Films scored by Steve Bartek 1995 comedy films Films directed by Kelly Makin 1990s American films New Line Cinema films English-language adventure comedy films