American Pie
Additional Cast:
Oz: Chris Klein
Nadia: Shannon Elizabeth
Vicky: Tara Reid
Jessica: Natasha Lyonne
Heather: Mena Suvari
Sherman: Chris Owen
released: 1999. Written by: Adam herz. Directed by: Paul Weitz. My rating: ****.
Plot:
Basically, five friends make a pact to lose their virginity by graduation. Jim, Kevin, Finch, Oz, and Stifler, all friends throughout high school, and all very different, each go about the pact differently. Jim is infatuated with Nadia, the foreign exchange student, and tries very hard to get with her. This includes getting her over to study. This leads to a bizarre episode where Nadia decides to change her clothes, and masturbates while Jim broadcasts her over the internet. He also gets a little too excited by her, and we learn that he's a little quick on the draw.
Kevin is dating Vicky, but she's not ready to have sex. He is. They fight, and to make it up he performs an amazing oral sex act. They decide to go all they way at prom. They do, but they decide the relationship wouldn't go anywhere after high school.
Oz is the casanova want-to-be, but really has no clue. He meets Heather in the jazz choir, which he joins to learn some sensitivity. After a few missteps, they end up malking it work, and create a lasting bond.
Finch, meanwhile, has the entire school beleiving he's this sexual god. Until Stifler humiliates him. Then, he's stuck with no date. However, he ends up with Stifler's mom.
In the end, Jim goes with Michelle to the prom, and winds up losing his virginity.
My Thoughts
This is thought of the quintessential teen gross-out comedy of the last decade. It has some gross-out gags, some rauchy sex, and a lot of heart. It started the careers of most od the cast, including Jason Biggs and Sean William Scott. It has its moments, and still makes me laugh out loud in some parts.
American Pie 2
Additional Cast
Oz: Chris Klein
Jessica: Natasha Lyonne
Vicky: Tara Reid
Heather: Mena Suvari
Sherman: Chris Owen
Released: 2001. Story by: David H. Steinberg & Adam Herz. Screenplay by: Adam Herz. Directed by: J.B. Rogers. My Rating:***
Plot
One year after they graduated, the American Pie gang spends the summer on the lake to party and say good-bye to their childhood for good. Jim, in particular, has Nadia coming for a visit, but Jim hasn't had sex since Michelle at graduation. He enlists the help of Michelle to impress Nadia, but ends up falling for Michelle.
Oz spends most of his time talking to Heather while she's in Europe. Kevin spends most of his mistakenly thinking that he and Vicky may get back together. Finch spends his time learning tantra in hopes of pleasing Stifler's mom once again.
My Thoughts
This sequel was one of those slightly sub-standard ones. It had its moments, but overall, it paled in comparison to the first. Most of the cast was lost and the story had almost too many elements going on. The spirit was there, and the chemistry between the principles was till spot-on, but it seemed hollow. Although, the pay-off between Jim and Michelle was a high-point.
American Wedding
Additional cast
Cadence: January Jones
Harold Flaherty: Fred Willard
Released: 2003. Written by: Adam Herz. Directed by: Jesse Dylan. My Rating: ****.
Plot
The final installment of the trilogy has Jim and Michelle tying the knot. Antics include having Stifler dance in a gay bar, having Jim shave his pubic hair and have it fly into the wedding cake, having Stifler eat dog poop, and everything comes out in regular fashion. Stifler spends most of the time acting nice in order to bone Michelle's sister Cadence. In the end, Stifler ruins trhe wedding, makes it up, and fixes the wedding.
My Thoughts
This one reminded me more of the first, and effected me in the same way. I'd say it was because the first I related to because it came out when I was graduating. The second I didn't relate to as much, but this one came out in the midst of my wife and I planning our wedding. It was so touching in some parts, and really touched my heart. As well as tickling my funny bone.
They also trimmed the fat in this one. Half the cast from the first is gone, and only the interesting storylines were allowed to continue. And, it was written by the same guy who did the other two, so the characters all moved with the same arc as the other two. Overall, a funny, disgusting, trip. Well worth it.
