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American Wedding
review by Dan
Lybarger, 8 August 2003
The American
Pie films have become sleeper hits because they demonstrate that
people in the U.S. never seem to get enough jokes involving sex or
distasteful bodily functions. Fortunately, it also shows that the
public craves likable characters and flashes of genuine wit. The
limp and fleeting appeal of such recent stinkers as Boat
Trip and Sorority Boys demonstrates it takes more than skin and body wastes
to make gross out humor work. With American
Wedding, the novelty of watching Jason Biggs caught in yet
another absurd compromised position starts to lose its novelty, even
if no more pastries are defiled. As much fun as might be to see
Seann William Scott ingesting dog feces, it’s returning
screenwriter Adam Herz’s examination of his characters’ hearts
that keeps American Wedding from
being a rote exercise in tastelessness. Because the characters going
through Herz’s bizarre trials are sympathetic, it’s possible to
care about them once the pubic hairs have cleared.
In this installment, pie lover Jim
(Jason Biggs) and band camp veteran Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) have
finally decided to tie the knot. Despite their deep affection and
even deeper lust for each other, Jim’s bizarre curse with all
things carnal comes back to haunt him. Thanks to his well-meaning
father (the always welcome Eugene Levy), Jim's simple proposal turns
into a scene of colossal embarrassment.
Things don't improve once the
invitations are sent. Because her parents (Fred Willard and Deborah
Rush) have little regard for Jim, he decides it might be wise to
exclude his shockingly boorish pal Stifler (Seann William Scott)
from the ceremony. Stifler not only takes offense but even goes to
Herculean lengths to participate and possibly (gasp!) help.
Knowing that his almost superhuman hedonism is a potential
obstacle, Stifler actually pretends to be a gentleman around
Michelle's clan. He sports an eerie pastel Izod shirt and manages to
complete sentences without using profanity. Come to think of it,
merely completing sentences is a normally a challenge for this guy.
He also starts making tasteful glances at Michelle's attractive
sister Cadence (January Jones), and watching him hand his intended a
flower reminds the folks who know him of seeing primitive man
discovering tools.
Seeing Stifler feigning and later
actually developing a soul is what keeps American Wedding
from ending in a quick divorce. His non-Pie roles like the dufus he played in Dude, Where's My Car? gave
little hint of the range Scott actually has. Scott effortlessly
switches from being a repulsive alpha male to showing genuine signs
of sensitivity.
Herz
also manages to give the character some wonderfully unexpected
turns. Several movies like the unwatchable Boat
Trip have features
sequences where unsuspecting and not terribly bright straight guys
stumble into gay bars. Herz and Scott manage to make the sequence
fresh and hysterically funny by having Stifler get upset when he
discovers that the bar's regular patrons don't lust after him. The
end result is a dance off that has to be seen to be believed.
If
Herz had trimmed some of the lamer sex jokes and given the talented
Fred Willard more to do than be a dull straight man, American
Wedding might have lost
a few fans but gained some more. Thankfully he and director Jesse
Dylan (Bob's son) have thought of enough funny material to make
wading through some disgusting discharges worth it.
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