American Pie 2 ***
Directed by: James B. Rogers
Starring: Jason Biggs, Eugene Levy, Mena Suvari, Seann William Scott, Shannon Elizabeth, Chris Klein, Alyson Hannigan, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Eddie Kay Thomas
Rated R (language, adult situations, brief nudity)
I’m sure that most of you have either seen or heard about American Pie. It was supposed to be Porky’s for a new generation. And it was, for the most part. I thought that Eugene Levy was the best part about American Pie, but, that might just be me. It’s tough to find a good straight man, but Levy is one of the best.
With a sequel, naturally, everything must be turned up a notch or two. The stakes are higher. Conventional wisdom says that the sequel will not be as good as the original. There are exceptions to this, of course – the Star Wars series, The Godfather I and II – but, for the most part a sequel is something like Species 2, The Crow 2 or The Exorcist II. It’s merely re-hashing old territory, and is usually just there to milk money from the franchise. That being said, I was very surprised by American Pie 2.
I didn’t go in expecting a whole lot, and for the most part I was right. There were the standard body-function jokes, the standard homophobic jocks, and the standard sexual mishaps. It took me awhile to see something entirely unexpected in the movie, and I was, for lack of a better term, charmed. More on that later.
The basic plot is this: Jim (Biggs), Kevin (Nicholas), “Oz” (Klein), Finch (Thomas), and Stifler (Scott) are back at home after their first year at college. Oz and Heather (Suvari) are still together, Kevin and Vicky (Tera Patrick) are not, Jim is still single, Finch is still pining for Stifler’s Mom (Jennifer Coolidge), and Stifler is still a dumb jock. Things have changed, however – high school parties are no longer “cool”. So, following the advice of Kevin’s older brother, the gang rents a beach house for the summer. The plan: to meet the ladies, and to throw a party that they will remember as the greatest party ever for the rest of their lives.
Wacky shenanigans go down, as expected. The gang has a job painting a house, and Stifler becomes convinced that there are two “hot lesbians” living there. The boys break in, and are forced to become, well, closer. Jim has an accident with superglue. (This bit, while painful, has nothing on There’s Something About Mary.) And, of course, the audience loves it. Pretty standard summer movie fare – it’s amusing, but predictable.
It took me at least halfway through the movie to start noticing something – the relationships were actually well written, directed, and acted! In the original American Pie, the relationships were just sort of there. In American Pie 2, I actually felt emotions in the characters. Everyone except Stifler was a person that I could relate to. Kevin and Vicky have broken up, apparently, and are just seeing each other again for the first time in months (an eternity in high-school years). She wants to be “friends”, while he wants to date her again. A very awkward situation, and handled very well. Oz and Heather are still together, and you feel that they are actually meant for each other. It’s genuinely sweet, and surprisingly tender. Jim has been waiting for Nadia (Elizabeth) to come back, but feels inadequate. He goes to Michelle (Hannigan) for a critique and advice. It’s silly, it’s improbable, and it’s charming.
Now, I’m not going to say that American Pie 2 is a masterful piece of art – it’s not When Harry Met Sally... or Chasing Amy, but it’s surprisingly charming in its own way.
There is no doubt that this film is aimed at teenagers and college kids – all the evidence you need for this is the soundtrack (although some of the incidental music is very good). It has pretty people doing funny things. It has naughty jokes. It has a beach house. It doesn’t have any explosions (well, one, but it’s a good one). But, if you look at the romantic relationships, it becomes just a little bit more than a standard summertime teenage sex farce. And, yes, there is room for a sequel.
