Unrated
(Sexual Content, Language and Crude Humor)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 43 Minutes
Cast-
Jason
Biggs-James ‘Jim’ Levenstein
Thomas
Ian Nicholas-Kevin Myers
Eddie
Kaye Thomas-Paul Finch
Seann
William Scott-Steve Stifler
Alyson
Hannigan-Michelle Flaherty
January
Jones-Cadence Flaherty
Deborah
Rush-Mary Flaherty
Fred
Willard-Harold Flaherty
Eric
Allan Kramer-Bear
Eugene
Levy-Jim's Father/Mr. Levenstein
Jennifer
Coolidge-Stifler's Mother
Amanda
Swisten-Fraulein Brandi
Nikki
Schieler Ziering-Officer Krystal
Directed
by Jesse Dylan
 |
| It's about time these two tied the knot! |
Wedding
scenes in movies have always made me smile but that still wasn’t enough to save
2003’s “American Wedding”, the third and supposedly
final installment in the mediocre yet popular “American Pie” franchise. The
arrival of another sequel does not come as any real shock to anyone since the
first and second films have earned a nice tidy sum of $235 and $288 million
worldwide each, which may not seem like much but the relatively cheap
production budgets has allowed Universal to rake in the dough. The original
“American Pie” led to a renewed interest in the R-rated sex comedy when it was
released in 1999 with some fans even hailing it as an instant classic and
comparing it to 1982’s “Porky’s”, a film that was much maligned by critics upon
release and was on Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel’s ‘worst of the year’ lists.
Whether you liked Paul Weitz’s film or not, one thing was perfectly clear—it
was by no means an ‘instant classic’, two words that audiences liberally misuse
too often. The surprise financial success of “American Pie” led to a sequel in
2001 but it was clear from the onset that “American Pie 2” was made without an
ounce of inspiration or even wit and existed solely to cash-in on the audience
goodwill generated from the original film. “American Wedding” faces the same
predicament and while this third entry is a slight
improvement over the previous film, many of the problems that have existed
since its inception remain unfixed. The main story continues to go nowhere for
much of its running time in favor of even more
ridiculous antics that reek of desperation and the expanded role for Seann
William Scott’s Steve Stifler prove to be a major miscalculation as the
character is too much of an unsympathetic a**hole to be taken seriously.
Three
years have passed since the events of the previous film and not wasting any
time after graduating from college, James ‘Jim’ Levenstein (Jason Biggs)
decides to propose to his girlfriend Michelle Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan) while
dining at a fancy restaurant but shockingly discovers that he had left the ring
at home. His ever-dependable father (Eugene Levy) calls his son that he is
coming to his rescue but Michelle misinterprets Jim’s intentions and performs
fellatio on him under the table. He is literally caught with his pants down
once again by his father but despite the public embarrassment, Michelle happily
agrees to Jim’s marriage proposal without hesitation. He promises her that
their wedding will be perfect but he secretly confides with his two best
friends, Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas),
that he is worried that it will be a disaster due to his bad luck. Although not
invited, the obnoxious Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) unceremoniously
crashes the engagement party, making a fool out of both himself and Jim in
front of Michelle’s parents, Mary and Harold Flaherty (Deborah Rush and Fred
Willard). Stifler reveals that he can teach Jim to dance but will only do so on
the condition that he be allowed to attend the wedding and plan the bachelor
party. Meanwhile, Paul tags along with Michelle to pick up her younger sister
Cadence (January Jones) at the airport and is immediately attracted to her.
However, Stifler is attracted to her as well and each adopts the personality
and the mannerisms of the other in an effort to win Cadence’s affections. Jim
struggles to keep the two from ruining the wedding while proving to Michelle’s
parents that he is a good husband and the right man for her.
One of the reasons
why “American Pie 2” critically flopped as a sequel was that there were too
many extraneous characters taking up screen-time but writer Adam Herz wisely
avoids this by trimming much of the fat out for “American Wedding.” Another
issue was the main story being given so little attention to the point of being
an afterthought due to the inconsequential subplots that took up a huge chunk
of the previous film’s running time. There is only one subplot in the third
film but once again Herz makes the same
mistake of devoting too much time
toward it. While Jim is trying hard to give the perfect wedding to Michelle,
Stifler is running around trying to sleep with her younger sister Cadence. Much
of the comedy is running on leftover fumes at this point and instead of coming
up with something new, Herz expands Stifler’s role even further and throws him
into one ridiculous situation after another in a desperate bid to generate
laughs. For Jim’s surprise bachelor party, Stifler invites two buxom strippers
named Fraulein Brandi (Amanda Swisten) and Officer Krystal (Nikki Schieler
Ziering) but the whole sequence is a painful drag and is little more than an
excuse to display two pairs of surgically-enhanced breasts. At least it’s not
as god-awful as seeing Chris Klein attempt phone sex and rubbing his nether
regions.
Later in the film, Stifler is giving the Flaherty’s dogs sausage
treats but accidentally feeds them Jim’s engagement ring and forcing him to
wait for the dogs to pass it out since he was entrusted to keep the ring safe.
He manages to retrieve the ring by picking up a piece of dog feces with a
napkin but Michelle’s mother mistakes it for a truffle and asks to have a
taste. Stifler instead puts the dog
feces in his mouth! First off, this
act of coprophagia shows that nothing is off limits in the name of comedy but
the second thing is that it makes no logical sense for the dog feces to be
mistaken for a truffle. The foul odor should’ve been a dead giveaway and points
to how forced many of the comedy set-ups feel. Herz then tries to humanize
Stifler by having Cadence fall in love with him but it doesn’t work because
he’s such an unsympathetic character to begin with. The only time I laughed was
during the cold open but even that is
recycled from the previous films. The rest of “American Wedding” is just one
unfunny sequence after another at it limps along to the end credits. What
little drama found in the film is hastily and conveniently resolved but the
scenes where Jim’s father gives marriage advice to his son and later his
would-be wife are well-done. Having him explain to Michelle that love is about
compromise and sacrifice represents the series’ most honest moment and if Herz
could’ve just took a step back and treated his characters like the adults they
actually are, it would’ve improved the film. The wedding thankfully ends the
film on a high note but it’s still a case of too little too late given what we
had to suffer through.
Chris Klein is conspicuously absent from this entry so
the biggest weak link in the acting is thankfully gone and the rest of the cast
slip into their roles comfortably. Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan make for an
appealing on-screen couple because their character’s personalities complement
each other so well. Thomas Ian Nicholas and Eddie Kaye Thomas are on hand to
provide some familiar faces but their roles don’t really amount to much. As for
Seann William Scott…I will concede that he plays the obnoxious a**hole well but
Stifler works only in small doses like in the first film as having him in every
scene just gets grating on the nerves. Not helping matters is his incessant
whiny voice. January Jones (before she became an ice queen bitch) provides a
pretty face as the pretty but bland younger sister of Michelle. The
ever-dependable Eugene Levy remains as one of the few bright spots in the
series and it was great to see him paired up with Fred Willard.
“American
Wedding” was released on Blu-Ray back in March to promote the upcoming release
of “American Reunion” but the video quality is a step back from the previous
film. Colors are vibrant and bold but skin tones often take on a jaundiced
yellow or flushed red. Background details also look murky and lack depth but
shadows look surprisingly pleasing to the eye. Audio is a step up with strong
bass being utilized for many of the licensed songs and ambience for crowd
scenes such as the dance-off between Stifler and an imposing man nicknamed Bear
(Eric Allan Kramer) at a gay bar. Don’t ask me how that came about because the
details are totally contrived and not worth mentioning. Many of the special
features are useless but the two audio commentaries should prove to be an
interesting listen. One has director Jesse Dylan and Seann William Scott while
the other has Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Eddie Kaye Thomas, and Thomas Ian
Nicholas.
Released on August 1, 2003, “American Wedding” received mixed reviews
with 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that it was ‘raunchier and even more
gross than the first two [films and that it] ought to please fans of the
series.’ The film was a box office success (of course) and earned $231 million
worldwide but the production budget was noticeably higher at $55 million. This
was supposedly the final film in the series but we all know that it isn’t over
until Hollywood squeezes every last dime out of a franchise. The “American Pie”
named was used in four spin-off films that had nothing to do with anything
other than providing Eugene Levy with a steady paycheck and diluting the brand.
While there are some scenes that manage to recapture the tone of the original
film, “American Wedding” never rises above mediocrity because there is never
any attempt to fix the problems that have existed since the series’ inception.
The ‘bigger is better’ mentality hurts the film and Stifler’s boorish antics
are afforded too much screen-time but if you’re already a fan, you’ll just
disregard this review anyway.
Final
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
“But
boning aside, I think they call it making love because you have to make love
work. You know, it's about compromise and sacrifice and I think Jim has sacrificed
for you.”
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