First “American Pie” and then “American Pie 2” set the standard for innovative and refreshingly disgusting humor, a measure of excellence that all other teen comedies since then have fallen well short of. Although the third installment of the series, “American Wedding,” isn’t quite up to par with its predecessors, it still thrives on the traditional steady diet of potty humor and ingenuity.
Most of the cast returns for the third film in which Jim (Jason Biggs) proposes to his equally nerdy girlfriend Michelle (Alyson Hannigan). She of course accepts in a horribly embarrassing opening scene involving Jim’s dad, again played by Eugene Levy, who reacts to his son’s troubles with a perfect mix of shock and admiration.
While the focus of the film is directed toward the wedding between Jim and Michelle, the story really ends up being more about Stifler (Seann William Scott) and his refusal to grow up over the past four years. Stifler, still a total asshole to everyone he meets, is now working as the assistant football coach at the gang’s old school, and when he finds out about the wedding, he wants inespecially after meeting Michelle’s younger sister Cadence (January Jones).
“American Wedding” is more focused than the other films, centering mostly on the crowd favorites and leaving the other less notable characters in the dust. We don’t see or hear any signs of past friends played by Chris Klein, Mena Suvari and Tara Reid — it’s like they were completely forgotten. The storyline definitely works better and faster without any more shared lines, but a few comments about what they are doing would have been nice. Would Jim really not have invited some of his best friends from high school? Still, the third and possibly final helping of “Pie” is another winning comedy, albeit with less allure, but fans of the past films will eat it up just the same.
3 / 5 Stars
Starring: Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Eugene Levy, January Jones, Jennifer Coolidge
Director: Jesse Dylan
