American Pie: The Wedding

I don’t think that I’ll be offending any purists when I say that in the illustrious and distinguished genre known as the teen sex comedy, there are really no new ideas left. I have to be honest: before Porky’s came out (and became the highest grossing independent movie ever at the time), I can’t even remember if there was a teen sex comedy genre. At any rate, there is now, and if you look at the grosses for the current king of that particular hill — the American Pie series — the genre has never been healthier.

This third entry in the oft-quoted series follows the same time-tested formula as the dessert it’s named after: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Why change a recipe that’s both satisfied, and made, millions? For a dessert, that’s a good idea; for a movie, well… while the third entry is still standing, its age is definitely beginning to show.

After following our intrepid group through losing their respective virginities’ in the first film and renting a summer party house in the second, it’s time for everyone to grow up and face the last hurdle to adult-hood: getting married. Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are tying the knot and taking their friends with them. Um, that’s about it, really; a 13-word premise padded to 90-minutes which, come to think of it, has pretty much been the modus operandi for the last two flicks.

The thing that makes the American Pie series so (in)famous is not that it has gross-out humor, but that it’s one of the few films to so blissfully embrace it and display it like a gap-toothed kid who has just won his first Tae Kwon Do trophy. From sleeping with your friends’ mom and drinking sperm-laced beer to super-gluing your hand to your penis and French-kissing your best mate on a dare, there seems to be nothing that the series won’t tackle. It’s like hanging around with that one friend that everyone has who just does not get embarrassed, ever. You know something horrible is going to happen but all you can do is watch and wait for it to come.

In American Pie: The Wedding, Jim and his loyal cronies face the usual daunting obstacles of an impending wedding – meeting the bride’s parents for the first time, finding the perfect dress, learning how to dance and competing for the affection of a bridesmaid. But, don’t forget, this is a Pie sequel and therefore wouldn’t be complete without touching on topics such as bestiality, shaving your pubic hair and oral sex in public. This is not a film to bring your younger cousins to.

Despite the absence of Meena Suvari, Chris Klein and the highly over-rated Tara Reid, who all previously played major roles, this one still manages to satisfy its audience. Director Jesse Dylan (son of Bob, brother of Jakob), doesn’t do a particularly good job here — not that he really needed to break any new ground. By this point, the characters and stature of these films are nearly self-guiding and I think that they just needed a name to put on the marquee. The script, by Pie veteran Adam Herz is funny but a bit too gross, which was one of the things that bothered me. In the past two Pie movies, the filmmakers knew the location of the very thin line that separates humor from disgust. In this one, I think they lost the map because on several occasions they step over the line — I swear I actually heard someone in the audience gag during one particularly over-the-top scene.

Seann William Scott, (who works in curse words like an artist works in watercolors), also returns as the notorious Stifler but instead of being a loveable, blasphemous goof like in the last two movies, they’ve turned him into an overbearing jerk. Still entertaining, but not as funny. The genius of Fred Willard as Michelle’s Dad is wasted which is a shame, because when his comedy “on” button is lit, he could read a “Sorry for your loss” Hallmark card and have the room in stitches. And I don’t want to waste too much time complaining about Thai censorship laws, but we all know what breasts look like. Do they really think they’re saving the country by blurring out the offending areas? Give me a break.