American Wedding
Created | Updated Jul 1, 2004
Sexual farce has a very long history. Shakespeare, Aristophanes, Plautus, and others have written plays meant to elicit laughs from the most risqué and bawdy of situations. And now the gang from Great Falls High returns to help celebrate – and complicate – the wedding of lovebirds Jim and Michelle.
The cast of American Wedding has been greatly pared down, and actors Tara Reid, Chris Klein, Mena Suvari, and Shannon Elizabeth are nowhere to be found. However, the Pie movies were always mostly about the men's exploits, and so the removal of the three actresses isn't really a factor. As for Chris Klein, the movie was halfway over before I even realized that Oz wasn't in it. (Oddly, though, none of the characters even mention him, even though he was their very close friend in the first two movies. Maybe Oz is off hanging out with The Brady Bunch's dog Tiger, who also seemed to just disappear into thin air one day.) In any case, the men that are in this movie do an excellent job of keeping the comedy (and vulgarity) ever present, and so the missing cast members don't end up being too much of a factor.
While the movie centers around the wedding of pie lovin' Jim and his band camp fiancée, Michelle, it is surely Seann William Scott's Steve Stifler who steals the show this time. In the first two films, Stifler was shown as nothing more than just an annoying, crude buddy, who was always up for a good time, but who had no depth whatsoever. Here, though, another side of Stifler is shown, a softer, gentler side – a still very crude, softer, gentler side, but a gentler side nonetheless. Stifler proves himself to be one of those big men on campus who burn out early and don't amount to much after college. Stifler works as a bus driver/high school coach, and has an air of almost desperation around him as he heads through life in his brightly colored gym shorts.
His sadness is heightened by the fact that the people he thought were his friends in high school and college have all moved onto bigger and better things, leaving Stifler far behind in the dust. Stifler isn't even invited to Jim's wedding, and has to scheme his way into an invite.
Jim and his pals are supposed to be the nice guys of the flick, but they come off as almost harsh and cruel since they insult Stifler time and time again, to the point where the movie viewer actually starts to feel sympathy for Stifler, and antipathy for Jim and his pals. In the end, though, Stifler comes through like a champ, ending up with not only the girl and the friends, but maybe even a little self-respect.
As for "the girl" in question, she's Michelle's younger sister, Cadence, played by January Jones. This is the one plot in the movie that seems quite out of place and distracts from the all-out mayhem the rest of the movie brings about. Perhaps it's because Cadence is a new character and the audience knows nothing about her except that she reads great literature and is extremely horny. Perhaps it's the fact that she's so two-dimensional and thrust onto the scene fairly far into the film. Whatever the reason, the Cadence plot just doesn't work, even if it does get Stifler what could very well be his first serious girlfriend. The plot might've worked better if Stifler had been paired with an actor who had appeared in previous Pie films, such as Mena Suvari, someone the audience already knew and could root for. In this situation only, the movie would've been helped by the return of one of the previous American Pie gals. Aside from this, though, American Wedding works quite well with its current cast.
Jason Biggs is wonderful as a leading man, really showing his mettle and comedic ability. He has great chemistry with Alyson Hannigan's Michelle, and it's great to see their wedding as the culmination of their long, wacky relationship. Eugene Levy is always wonderful, but even more so this time as he returns as Jim understanding father, a man refined enough to show only mild shock at the many exploits of Jim's that he's walked in on over the years (the pie, the super glue, etc.).
American Wedding also offers a wonderful cameo by Jennifer Coolidge, who returns as Stifler's mom, Finch's object of much requited lust. Plus, Stifler's dance in the bar is the funniest dance scene since Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion. Also enjoyable is the scene where Stifler goes into the closet for a rendezvous with Cadence and instead ends up accidentally getting down and dirty with Jim's grandmother. (Stifler just seems to have the worst luck with things like this.)
All in all, American Wedding is a fun little romp, and a nice conclusion to the movie trilogy. Even though half the cast is gone, the remaining actors more than make up for it in spades. The film is laugh-out-loud funny, and shows what can happen when moviemakers aren't afraid to reach for that pie in the sky.
On my personal scale of 1 to 5 popcorn pieces (5 being "a comical gem," 1 being "a comical nightmare"), I give American Wedding 4 popcorn pieces.
Credits: Starring Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, and Alyson Hannigan. Directed by Jesse Dylan. Running time: 96 minutes. Rated R.
-Chimene Mata
The cast of American Wedding has been greatly pared down, and actors Tara Reid, Chris Klein, Mena Suvari, and Shannon Elizabeth are nowhere to be found. However, the Pie movies were always mostly about the men's exploits, and so the removal of the three actresses isn't really a factor. As for Chris Klein, the movie was halfway over before I even realized that Oz wasn't in it. (Oddly, though, none of the characters even mention him, even though he was their very close friend in the first two movies. Maybe Oz is off hanging out with The Brady Bunch's dog Tiger, who also seemed to just disappear into thin air one day.) In any case, the men that are in this movie do an excellent job of keeping the comedy (and vulgarity) ever present, and so the missing cast members don't end up being too much of a factor.
While the movie centers around the wedding of pie lovin' Jim and his band camp fiancée, Michelle, it is surely Seann William Scott's Steve Stifler who steals the show this time. In the first two films, Stifler was shown as nothing more than just an annoying, crude buddy, who was always up for a good time, but who had no depth whatsoever. Here, though, another side of Stifler is shown, a softer, gentler side – a still very crude, softer, gentler side, but a gentler side nonetheless. Stifler proves himself to be one of those big men on campus who burn out early and don't amount to much after college. Stifler works as a bus driver/high school coach, and has an air of almost desperation around him as he heads through life in his brightly colored gym shorts.
His sadness is heightened by the fact that the people he thought were his friends in high school and college have all moved onto bigger and better things, leaving Stifler far behind in the dust. Stifler isn't even invited to Jim's wedding, and has to scheme his way into an invite.
Jim and his pals are supposed to be the nice guys of the flick, but they come off as almost harsh and cruel since they insult Stifler time and time again, to the point where the movie viewer actually starts to feel sympathy for Stifler, and antipathy for Jim and his pals. In the end, though, Stifler comes through like a champ, ending up with not only the girl and the friends, but maybe even a little self-respect.
As for "the girl" in question, she's Michelle's younger sister, Cadence, played by January Jones. This is the one plot in the movie that seems quite out of place and distracts from the all-out mayhem the rest of the movie brings about. Perhaps it's because Cadence is a new character and the audience knows nothing about her except that she reads great literature and is extremely horny. Perhaps it's the fact that she's so two-dimensional and thrust onto the scene fairly far into the film. Whatever the reason, the Cadence plot just doesn't work, even if it does get Stifler what could very well be his first serious girlfriend. The plot might've worked better if Stifler had been paired with an actor who had appeared in previous Pie films, such as Mena Suvari, someone the audience already knew and could root for. In this situation only, the movie would've been helped by the return of one of the previous American Pie gals. Aside from this, though, American Wedding works quite well with its current cast.
Jason Biggs is wonderful as a leading man, really showing his mettle and comedic ability. He has great chemistry with Alyson Hannigan's Michelle, and it's great to see their wedding as the culmination of their long, wacky relationship. Eugene Levy is always wonderful, but even more so this time as he returns as Jim understanding father, a man refined enough to show only mild shock at the many exploits of Jim's that he's walked in on over the years (the pie, the super glue, etc.).
American Wedding also offers a wonderful cameo by Jennifer Coolidge, who returns as Stifler's mom, Finch's object of much requited lust. Plus, Stifler's dance in the bar is the funniest dance scene since Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion. Also enjoyable is the scene where Stifler goes into the closet for a rendezvous with Cadence and instead ends up accidentally getting down and dirty with Jim's grandmother. (Stifler just seems to have the worst luck with things like this.)
All in all, American Wedding is a fun little romp, and a nice conclusion to the movie trilogy. Even though half the cast is gone, the remaining actors more than make up for it in spades. The film is laugh-out-loud funny, and shows what can happen when moviemakers aren't afraid to reach for that pie in the sky.
On my personal scale of 1 to 5 popcorn pieces (5 being "a comical gem," 1 being "a comical nightmare"), I give American Wedding 4 popcorn pieces.
Credits: Starring Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, and Alyson Hannigan. Directed by Jesse Dylan. Running time: 96 minutes. Rated R.
-Chimene Mata
