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Ah,
the joy, pain and confusion of adolescence, in most of our lives,
these were the formulative years that have helped to mold us into
who we are today. We
were still young inside, as evidenced by our crude and sometimes
inappropriate outlook on things, yet as the years went on, the
urges of sexuality, the intellect of our experiences and the
emotional sensitivity and awareness of surroundings became more
prevalent. In
American Wedding, the third and probably final installment of this
coming-of-age for a new generation series,
the film makers have maintained the spirit of the first two
films, while solidifying this series as the definitive voice of
the youth of today. Think
of it as John Hughes, with a dose of the Farrelly brothers thrown
in for realism. The
story hits a lull and stumbles a bit towards the finish, but by
the end, it leaves us with a genuinely good feeling about
ourselves and that someone truly does understand what those years
of our life were like.
In a fitting
finale to a journey that began as a quest for sex, Jim and
Michelle are taking the big step into matrimony.
We are introduced to rest of Michelle’s family, shown how
the characters have adapted to life after high school (college
degrees, coaching high school football) and given some natural
growth of the characters in realizing their true selves (namely
Stifler). As is a
requirement, there has to be at least one “Three’s Company”
scene that is misinterpreted leading to discomfort and humor (dogs,
cake, need I say more?) but there is also at least one
memorable scene that will leave you laughing so hard you may miss
the dialogue (Stifler’s dancing in a gay bar and a
personality switch during competition for a girl).
Some of these are left hanging and unresolved, but as in
life, that’s the way things often happen.
I admire the effort and the consistency and thought put
into the scripts of all 3 films.
They are not perfect, but neither are people, so in that
way, the flaws are acceptable and even contribute to the natural
flow of the film. In
American Pie 2, there were excessive characters and some
questionable attempts at humor and subplots.
This time around, those characters are not around, but
there still seems to be an excess.
Basically, the
focus lies on Jim and Stiffler, with the other two thrown in as
straight men to progress the plot and little else.
They have added some intruiging new characters (Bear,
the dancing pimp, Cadence the intellectual sister of Michelle, and
Michelle’s parents (the always scene stealing Fred Willard
namely) who add the required flavor to keep things fresh.
Most of the jokes and gags work, mainly in the first part,
some are just thrown in for laughs it seems, but they fit and
work, while at least one is not only flat out disgusting, but
seemingly stolen from many others sources, namely a Cheech and
Chong routine.
As the series
has progressed along, the subject matter has basically matured
with the characters, but on a realistic level.
These are not teens that are unrealistically wise beyond
their years, nor are they immature brainless zombies in a state of
permanent arrested development (those who want to debate about
Stifler email me later).
These are kids, in a state of transition, enjoy all of the
joys and heartaches of taking that next step into maturity and
adulthood while clinging on tight to their youth.
The films approach gives a wonderful balance to this, even
when it does stumble home at the end and showcase some misguided
humor attempts and seemingly unnecessary subplots.
There has also
been the realization that the most memorable character in this
series is Stifler, since he is crude, crass and says what most
males his age are already thinking. This time, he is given more focus and depth as his true inner
motivations and machinations are explored.
Who knew he could dance like he can, who knew he could be a
romantic
“Steve
gave a girl a rose, and actually meant it!”
This
storyline is what gives the film its edge and unexpected depth and
appeal, granted, most of us want to relate to Jim in his
uncomfortable insecurities of walking in shoes that he feels will
never fit him, but its Stifler who actually may grow and discover
the most about himself. Credit
to Seann William Scott for never losing himself in his character
or trying to steal his scenes.
He doesn’t have to because his characters natural actions
and reactions are more than enough.
Ultimately,
American Wedding is an enjoyable climax to a series of films whose
longevity, quality and ability to capture the psyche of a
generation, could not have been imagined when we were first
introduced to the joys of apple pie.
The journey from adolescence to adulthood is a tumultuous,
confusing, emotional, yet amazing journey.
No one can say they thoroughly enjoyed these years, yet
most will agree that they would not be who they are today without
the lessons and experiences. Rarely have films been able to
capture all of these emotions into one film, but this series has. The humor is sophomoric, sometimes excessive, but always
believable, the characters are human, complete with flaws,
insecurities, wants desires, needs and dreams and the stories and
occurrences have a natural flow that most of can relate to whether
we admit it or not. As
I stated, the film is far from perfect and its missteps and
mistakes could take another page of analysis, but frankly, they
are unimportant. What
counts, as it always has, is the message and intent of the film
makers: Growing up is
hard, confusing, yet a memorable experience that molds our future.
This comes across despite all the things that someone could
find wrong in the film, and just makes it that much better. Move over Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, the new
generation of teen films have arrived complete with exposed
emotions, overactive hormones and the ability to make us smile,
laugh, cringe and cry, sometimes all at once
Agree?
Disagree, Questions? Comments?
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